Jayhawks Falter On First Day of Border Olympics

March 16, 2012

Border Olympics Day 1 Results

LAREDO, Texas – Kansas men’s golf struggled on the first day of the Border Olympics tournament, shooting a combined 625 (+49) in the first two rounds to sit in last place going into the final round Saturday.

KU’s lone highlight came when junior Alex Gutesha holed out from 138 yards for an eagle on the par-4, 438-yard sixth hole in his first round.

“He hit a wedge in there downwind from 138 yards,” said Kansas head coach Kit Grove, who was standing on the seventh tee box at the time and witnessed the shot go in. “It landed about two or three feet past the hole, and he spun it right back in for a two. After he started with a double bogey and a bogey, that kind of calmed him down a little bit. He got it back to even-par for the morning round before he double bogeyed his last hole.”

Gutesha finished the day as the team’s top performer with rounds of 74 (+2) and 77 (+5) to tie for 33rd place. Gutesha’s 77 marked the best round of any Jayhawk in the afternoon session. The second-best round of the day came from junior Chris Gilbert, who carded a 76 on his first 18 holes and ended the day with a 155 (+11) to tie for 54th.

“We just had horrible execution,” said Grove, who was extremely frustrated with the team’s showing on Friday. “I can’t explain it. We didn’t adjust. It’s massively disappointing. Hopefully we’ll play better tomorrow and have a little better luck next week (The Desert Shootout in Goodyear, Ariz.).”

The Jayhawks will conclude the Border Olympics event with the final 18 holes Saturday morning.

Team Results
1. Lamar – 293-289 – 582
2. Houston – 290-295 – 585
3. Baylor – 292-301 – 593
4. Central Arkansas – 296-304 – 600
5. IowaState – 296-305 – 601
16. KANSAS – 312-313 – 625

Individual Results
1. M.J. Daffue (Lamar) – 71-70 – 141
2. M. Bjerch-Andresen (Baylor) – 72-70 – 142
3. Scott Fernandez (IowaState) – 69-74 – 143
T4. Will Dusenbury (Houston) – 71-73 – 144
T4. Philipp Fendt (Louisiana) – 71-73 – 144

Kansas Results
T33. Alex Gutesha – 74-77 – 151
T54. Chris Gilbert – 76-79 – 155
T81. Dylan McClure – 84-78 – 162
T81. Paul Harris – 83-79 – 162
T85. Doug Quinones – 79-84 -163