LA QUINTA, Calif. – A pair of under-par rounds from senior Cecil Belisle and sophomore Will King jolted the Kansas men’s golf team into second place after 36 holes of The Prestige on Tuesday at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West.
Kansas was led by Belisle, who fired a 5-under, 66 to record his lowest 18-hole score as a Jayhawk. At -9 for the event, Belisle is the leader in the clubhouse after 36 holes. As a team, the Jayhawks posted an 8-under 276 to back up their opening round of 278 (-6).
Texas Tech leads the 24-team field at -24, followed by Kansas (-14), Duke (-11), Kansas State (-10), Washington (-9) and Louisville (-9) to round out the top five. The Jayhawks jumped three spots on the leaderboard and are in the hunt for the final round on Wednesday.
“Very solid round of golf today,” said head coach Jamie Bermel. “We had a few bad swings coming in, but that’s golf. I am really proud of Cecil and how he played today. He was in complete control of his golf ball and really put together a nice round of golf.”
Belisle, a Red Wing, Minnesota native, followed up his opening round 67 with a 66 in the second round, chalking up six birdies and just one bogey. Belisle had a clean scorecard until making a bogey on the 18th. Belisle showed no signs of slowing down on the par 3s, carding a birdie on three of the four available holes.
After an even-par opening round on Monday, King fired off a 3-under round of 68 on Tuesday. Highlighted by a hole-out eagle on the par-4 9th, King kept his card relatively clean and allowed just one bogey while carding two birdies. King sits T20 at 3-under par.
“Will King was solid again and the rest of the guys played well,” Bermel added. “Great team golf today.”
Senior William Duquette carded six birdies on his card and finished even par after an up-and-down round. Duquette is still inside the Top 40 in the talented field and will have an opportunity for a final 18 on Wednesday.
Senior Davis Cooper is at -2 for the tournament and T25 after a second round 71 (E). On the day, Cooper picked up three birdies and remained in the hunt after 36 holes.
After an opening round 76, senior Gunnar Broin bounced back with a 72 (+1).
Over at The Golf Club at Terra Lago in Indio, California, freshman Max Jelinek and sophomore Marijn Hoogeveen are competing as individuals. Jelinek posted a second round 71 (-1) and sits T17. Hoogeveen is T34 at +4 after an even-par 72 on Tuesday.
“We have one more round on Wednesday and we need to be ready to play and post a better score than we have the first two days,” Bermel said ahead of the final round.
Live scoring for the third and final round will be available on Smart Golf. Fans can also follow along with live updates from the official Kansas Men’s Golf Twitter account.
