Barbee Leads Kansas to Fourth Place Finish at Desert Shootout
March 21, 2009
GOODYEAR, Ariz. –
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Nate Barbee’s fifth place finish helped propel the Kansas Men’s Golf team to a fourth place finish at the Desert Shootout.
The fourth place finish marks the Jayhawks’ top finish since its third place finish at the Kansas Invitational. The team fired its second straight score of 279, which marks its top two rounds of the year.
“I am very pleased with how the guys played this week,” said head coach Kit Grove. “This is our most complete effort as a team as each guy turned in at least one solid round for us.”
Barbee carded his third straight under-par round with a final day 67. Barbee has now recorded three top-10 finishes on the year.
“Nate was just a rock for us this week,” said Grove. “He only made two bogeys all week and that is very impressive over 54 holes.”
Freshman Blake Giroux also fired three straight under-par rounds, finishing with a 71 to finish tied for 16th place. The finish marks the second top-20 finish of the year for the Omaha, Neb. native.
Senior Walt Koelbel rebounded from an opening-round 76 to fire two rounds of par or better to finish the event tied for 33rd. Junior Bryan Hackenberg finished strong with a final day 69 to finish tied for 42nd.
Freshman Ian Anson shot a 74 to finish the tournament tied for 58th place. Junior Patrick Roth, who competed in the event as an individual, shot a 74 to also finish tied for 58th place.
Denver, the host school, held off Tulsa to win the event by a stroke. Tom Whitney of Air Force won medalist honors with a three round total of 200.
The Jayhawks will next be in action March 29-31 when they travel to Santa Cruz, Calif. to compete in the Western Intercollegiate. Check back to kuathletics.com for complete coverage of the 2008-09 season.
Team Leaderboard
1. Denver (271-277-281—829)
2. Tulsa (275-281-274—830)
3. Coastal Carolina (278-277-283—838)
4. Kansas (282-279-279—840)
5. Kansas State (287-276-282—845)
Individual Leaderboard
1. Tom Whitney, Air Force (64-69-67—200)
T2. Zack Byrd, Coastal Carolina (69-69-63—201)
T2. Nicolas Geyger, Tulsa (64-73-64—201)
4. Robert Streb, Kansas State (68-69-66—203)
5. Nate Barbee, Kansas (70-67-67—204)
T16. Blake Giroux, Kansas (69-71-71—211)
T33. Walt Koelbel, Kansas (76-67-72—215)
T42. Bryan Hackenberg, Kansas (74-74-69—217)
T58. Ian Anson, Kansas (69-78-74—221)
T58. Patrick Roth-I, Kansas (77-70-74—221)
