Flynn closes with 71

Free State senior golfer Jack Flynn knew he could put together a good round on the final day of the Under Armour/Gary Woodland Championship tournament Thursday at Alvamar Country Club if he could get his putter going.

Flynn found his putting stroke, and was nearly flawless from tee to pin as he shot a career-best 71, 1-under to finish in a tie for 19th place to complete the three-day American Junior Golf Association event.

“You just have to take advantage of the par-5s on this course, and I did today,” Flynn said. “I birdied three out of four, and I almost birdied 17.”

The FSHS senior carded four birdies on Wednesday after none on Tuesday, but two double bogeys each day set him back. Flynn’s round on Thursday consisted of five birdies, four bogeys and pars for the rest of the course. A hot start was key for Flynn with turning things around, as four of his five birdies came on the front nine.

“The first hole, I hooked my drive off the tee so I’m under a tree, and (then) I hit it to about 15 feet, make it,” Flynn said. “Then I get on the second hole and almost chip in for eagle and got up to 2-under, so then I was like, ‘OK, I’m doing something good.’ Then I made two more birdies on the front.”

Flynn had another near eagle on the par-5 11th, as his putt lipped out, but his confidence on the long holes is building.

“I feel like I’m a longer hitter, so I have the chance to get to most of the par-5s in two,” Flynn said. “Seventeen is obviously a tough one to get to in two, but I feel like if I just get somewhere close to the green, I can get up and down a majority of the time.”

As Flynn continues to prepare for his final high school season, he is also excited about what Thursday’s performance could do to get the attention of coaches at the next level.

“I’m keeping my options open,” said Flynn on his college selection process. “Personally, I want to go somewhere down south so I can golf all year round, but I’ve been talking to a couple of Division II schools down in Florida, and I’ve been talking to Washburn a lot.”

Flynn finished 10-over par for the tournament, 18 strokes behind champion Thomas Lewis of Carmel, Indiana.

KU signee Fonseca is girls runner-up

While Flynn is looking to leave the Lawrence area to play collegiately, girls second-place finisher Ariadna Fonseca dawned her Kansas University hat as she accepted her runner-up trophy.

Fonseca, a Venezuela native by way of Winter Garden, Florida, had a two-stroke lead on the field going into the final round, but could not hold off Wan-Ping Huang as she fell in a one-hole playoff.

Although Fonseca was disappointed about not being able to secure the tournament championship, she is excited to see what the future holds for her career as a Jayhawk.

“Coming here was good and bad because I kind of want to stay,” Fonseca said. “I don’t want to wait two more months. I’m extremely excited to be here next year.”

Fonseca shot back-to-back rounds of 73 before finishing with a 74 on Thursday. The KU signee was even through 12 holes, but bogeys on 13 and 17 gave momentum to Huang entering the playoff.

“I had a bad hole coming back on the last three holes, but it’s OK,”

Fonseca said. “The playoff was kind of disappointing, but I still had a good week.”