Barbee, Hackenberg Lead Jayhawks to Fourth-Place Finish at Rice Intercollegiate
Feb. 16, 2010
HOUSTON. Texas –
Nate Barbee and Bryan Hackenberg shot rounds of par or better to lead the Kansas men’s golf team to the second-best team score of the tournament and a fourth place finish at the Rice Intercollegiate at Westwood Golf Club.
The Jayhawks shot a 296 which bested their best round thus far in the tournament by 11 strokes. The Jayhawks were able to move up four spots on team leaderboard including passing Big 12 rival Nebraska.
“I am very proud of how the guys bounced back after a tough first round and surpassed my expectations on how high we could climb in the tournament after digging ourselves in such a hole,” said head coach Kit Grove. “We really battled all week and it is a solid start for us in the spring season.”
Barbee shot a one-under 71 to finish tied for 3rd place. The Dakota Dunes, S.D. native has racked up 10 rounds of par or better on the season and the finish marks his fifth top-10 finish of the season.
Hackenberg shot an even par round of 72 and was able to jump up the individual leadboard 27 spots to finish the event tied for 22nd place.
“Nate (Barbee) was great from the word go this morning for us and Bryan really played a nice round today as well,” Grove said.
Freshman Alex Gutesha shot a 77 to finish tied for 31st. Junior Jeff Bell shot an 84 to tie for 63rd. Freshman Chris Gilbert shot his best round of the event with a 76 to tie for 71st.
Rice, the host school, was able to win the event by 19 strokes over the Auburn. Christopher Brown helped lead Rice to the title by winning meadlist honors with an even-par score of 216.
The finish marks the fourth time this season that KU has earned a top-five finish in six events.
The Jayhawks will return to action March 8-9 when they travel to Lafayette, La. to compete in the Lousiana Classics Invitational. Check back to kuathletics.com for complete coverage of the 2009-10 season.
Team Leaderboard
1. Rice 297-297-292—886
2. Auburn 300-302-303—905
3. Pacific 310-302-297—909
4. Kansas 318-307-296—921
5. Nebraska 308-313-302—923
Player Leaderboard
1. Christopher Brown, Rice 74-73-69—216
2. Michael Whitehead, Rice 72-75-73—220
T3. Nate Barbee, Kansas 76-76-71—223
T3. Brandon Crick, Nebraska 78-75-70—223
T3. Will McCurdy, Auburn 73-74-76—223
T22. Bryan Hackenberg, Kansas 82-77-72—231
T31. Alex Gutesha, Kansas 79-76-77—232
T63. Jeff Bell, Kansas 81-78-84—243
T71. Chris Gilbert, Kansas 87-85-76—248
