Back Nine Proves Tough for Kansas in Second Round
Feb. 23, 2013
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PALM DESERT, Calif. – Stan Gautier was on his way to having the best round of his young Kansas career – perhaps a round of historic proportions – but the back nine of the Classic Club proved to be a cruel host for the sophomore and his Jayhawk teammates on Saturday. Kansas dropped one spot, from ninth place into a tie for 10th after shooting a 304 (+16) during the second of three rounds at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
Gautier played bogey-free golf for the first nine holes, carding a trio of birdies and an eagle to enter the turn in a tie for the tournament lead. Two bogeys and a pair of double bogeys later, however, and the Paris, France, native walked off the course with what, on any other day, would’ve been a respectable par. The round was a one-stroke improvement on Friday for Gautier, who was KU’s leader tied for 13th at 73-72—145 (+1) for the tournament.
“Overall, I thought Stan had a good day,” Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel said. “He got off to a hot start, then got sloppy on the back. He hit a couple bad shots and made a couple easy doubles. Stan and Chris (Gilbert) are plying solid, but we need two more scores – we’re struggling to find that third and fourth score. We need to get off to a fast start tomorrow, but we need to hold it throughout 18 holes. Hopefully we can catch a few more teams in front of us.”
All five Kansas golfers finished over par on the back nine as the team shot a combined 17-over on those holes. At the end of the day, the Jayhawks remained in the middle of a pack led by Wichita State in sixth at 19-over for the tournament and Santa Clara in 15th at 34-over for the tournament. Kansas’ 299-304—603 (+27) tied Idaho after 36 holes of play, and trailed tournament leader TCU, at 11-under 565.
“We played really well on the front then kind of stumbled in on the back,” Bermel said. “The back’s really not that hard, but we seemed to make it more difficult. There are some holes that you have to be pretty precise with your irons and we hit it in the water and made unforced errors.”
A day after shooting a one-under 71, Kansas senior Chris Gilbert shot a 77 (+5) and dropped to 26th. The Jayhawks counted scores from freshman Jackson Foth (77) and Bryce Brown (81) as both improved their scores from Friday’s opening round. Ryley Haas was the fifth member of KU’s scoring team Saturday but his 8-over 80 was dropped from the team tally.
Kansas’ Alex Gutesha (75) and Dylan McClure (78) each competed as individuals. Gutesha climbed into the tournament’s top 50 with his two-day total of 76-75—151 (+7).
St. Mary’s Jonathan De Los Reyes, Texas Tech’s Finley Ewing and TCU’s Julien Brun sat in a three way tie at the top of the individual leaderboard at 5-under after 36 holes.
The fifth annual Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate will conclude at the par-72, 7,305-yard Classic Club with 18 holes on Sunday.
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