Kansas Completes Another Top-Five Placing

Final Results

PEARLAND, Texas – For the fourth time in four events in the 2015-16 campaign, the Kansas men’s golf team finished in the top-five of a tournament, after placing third in the Bayou City Collegiate Classic Tuesday.  

With the second lowest score in the third round and finishing 14 strokes over par, the Jayhawks completed the event eight strokes behind tournament winner Houston, who won with a three-round tourney with a score of 870 (+6).

“We played well today and finished fairly strong on three pretty strong holes,” head coach Jamie Bermel said of KU’s final-round effort. “We still had to count an over par score, but that was due to a costly mistake on the last hole. Unfortunately, the second round finish put us too far back to win.”

Throughout the two-day event at Golfcrest Country Club, Kansas led the 14-team field in pars recorded with at total of 175, as well as carding the lowest average score on a par three hole (3.00). Amongst the tournament’s individual leaders was KU senior Ben Welle, who had another top-five finish, placing third.

In the third and final round, Welle scored a 71 (-1), marking the fifth time this season, including two this tournament, that he has recorded a round under par. His two birdies on the final two holes allowed him to move up one spot on the leaderboard and finish four-under par, just one stroke behind tournament winner Matt Dunn of Houston.

“Ben Welle had another good finish and seems to be playing very solid,” Bermel said of the senior.

Joining Welle in the top-20 was teammate Chase Hanna. The junior shot a final round 72 (E) and finished the tournament with scores of 75-75-72–222 (+6).  His three birdies on the day were good enough for him to climb 12 spots on the leaderboard and finished tied for 19^th.

Kansas senior Connor Peck, who also managed to move up on the board Tuesday, saw himself rise 16 spots to place tied for 26^th, after completing the tournament with scores of 75-77-72–223 (+7). His consistent play on the par-72, 7,272-yard course helped him earn 38 pars throughout the event, which was tied for third most amongst the 81 players.

After a strong start to the event, recording a two-under, 70, in the first round, Jayhawk freshman Charlie Hillier found himself placing tied for 37^th, after shooting a 77 (+5) Tuesday. He completed the tournament shooting 225 and nine strokes over par.

Rounding off the Jayhawks was sophomore Spencer Painton, who carded his best score on Tuesday, shooting two-over-par, 74. In his second tournament of the fall, Painton placed tied for 52^nd, where he recorded rounds of 77-77-74–228 (+12).

Up next for the Jayhawks: Kansas will begin to prepare for the Price’s Give ‘Em Five Invitational in El Paso, Texas. The three-day event is slated to take place on October 23-25.

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.