Jayhawks Finish Eighth at Irish Creek Collegiate

April 1, 2012

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Chris Gilbert and Alex Gutesha each carded a 72 (+1) to remain tied for 35th as Kansas men’s golf shot a 293 (+9) to conclude the Irish Creek Collegiate in eighth place with a three-round total of 870 (+18) Sunday.

Gilbert and Gutesha both had steady performances in the final round, combining for 28 pars. Gilbert’s scorecard for the final 18 holes showed only one birdie and two bogeys to go along with 15 pars.

“He struck it very well today from tee to green,” said Kansas head coach Kit Grove. “He hit it inside 15 feet eight to 10 times. He wasn’t leaving himself a lot of work, but his speed was just enough off to where he left two or three makeable putts short and then on the next hole he would hit it through the break and knock it one or two feet past the hole. It was basically about as high as he could have shot. His only birdie was No. 4 where he hit it absolutely stone dead from 90 yards away.”

Senior Doug Quinones posted a 74 in the third round to end the event as the Jayhawks’ top finisher with a 214 to tie for 20th. Freshman Dylan McClure’s 75 (+4) on the final day dropped him into a tie for 48th with a three-round total of 222 (+9), while fellow freshman David Auer recorded a 78 (+7) to shoot a 231 in his collegiate debut in KU’s five-man lineup.

Putting plagued the Jayhawks for the second-straight day after KU had its best tee-to-green performance of the year on the first day of the Irish Creek Collegiate but sat in eighth place after 36 holes.

“Our pace as a whole wasn’t very good this week,” said Grove. “We did pretty well from tee to green, but the putter was the main struggle. These greens have enough subtle breaks to where there is slight movement that’s tougher to read, but as a whole, we have to putt better. Like I said, Chris shot absolutely as high as he could have today. We’ll practice this week and do a lot of putting. Hopefully we’ll get better, but tee to green we were a much better unit this week.”

Kansas will have a whole week off before beginning its next tournament, the Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz., Monday, April 9.

Team Results
1. No. 23 Kent State – 280-273-272 – 825
2. No. 16 Duke – 284-283-272 – 839
3. Mercer – 285-280-278 – 843
4. Charlotte – 285-285-279 – 849
5. VCU – 283-292-284 – 859
6. Xavier – 285-289-289 – 863
7. Michigan State – 287-286-291 – 864
8. KANSAS – 291-286-293 – 870
9. Louisville – 290-288-296 – 874
10. Northern Illinois – 284-297-296 – 877

Individual Results
1. James Beale (Mercer) – 68-68-64 – 200
2. Julian Suri (Duke) – 66-71-65 – 202
T3. Sebastian MacLean (Xavier) – 68-66-71 – 205
T3. Mackenzie Hughes (Kent State) – 71-65-69 – 205
T3. Taylor Pendrith (Kent State) – 69-71-65 – 205
6. Olafur Loftsson (Charlotte) – 71-67-68 – 206
T7. Kyle Kmiecik (Kent State) – 69-68-70 – 207
T7. Yaroslav Merkulov (Duke) – 72-67-68 – 207
9. Chris Malec (Louisville) – 71-67-70 – 208
T10. Corey Conners (Kent State) – 73-69-68 – 210
T10. Dan Ellis (Michigan State) – 70-67-73 – 210

Kansas Results
T20. Doug Quinones – 70-70-74 – 214
T35. Chris Gilbert – 73-73-72 – 218
T35. Alex Gutesha – 74-72-72 – 218
T48. Dylan McClure – 76-71-75 – 222
T67. David Auer – 74-79-78 – 231