Kansas in 10th After Third Round of Big 12 Championship

April 28, 2012

Third Round Results

TRINITY, Texas – Kansas men’s golf posted its best team score of the tournament and improved its second-round mark by 16 strokes with a 304 (+16) Saturday, but the Jayhawks remained in 10th place after 54 holes of competition at the Big 12 Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club.

“The team played better today,” said Kansas head coach Kit Grove. “The wind was down a little today, and the pins were a little bit more forgiving. The scores in general were lower today. To be honest, we were really hanging in there through nine holes, and then we just really finished poorly. We gave up 11 shots to par in the last five holes.”

Junior Chris Gilbert led the turnaround for KU, carding a 2-over 74 after shooting an 80 in the second round. Following a relatively quiet start of eight pars and one bogey, Gilbert birdied three of his next five holes and bogeyed the other two to get his round back to even par momentarily. Gilbert, who began his round on No. 10, bogeyed Nos. 7 and 8 on his way to the clubhouse to finish his day 2-over, the best round posted by any Jayhawk thus far in the Big 12 Championship.

“Chris played better today,” said Grove. “He had a fairly consistent round. It was a little unfortunate he bogeyed two of his last three holes because he was hanging around even par all day, but he gave a couple back.”

As a team, four Jayhawks improved their score from the second round, and three fired their best round of the Championship. Freshman Dylan McClure shot a 75 (+3) Saturday in a round that featured five birdies, all of which came on the front nine.

After opening his third round with a bogey on the 409-yard, par-4 No. 1, McClure birdied three of his next four. Following a bogey on No. 6, McClure birdied Nos. 7 and 8 to make the turn at 3-under. McClure completed the back nine with a 42 (+6) that included four bogeys and a double bogey to finish the third round with a team-best 54-hole aggregate of 227 (+11) to tie for 27th.

“Dylan had a great front nine,” said Grove. “The back nine is a little tougher, and he made a couple unforced errors. It would have been nice if he could have shot something in the 30s on the back to get a score at par or under, but for a freshman on a pretty difficult golf course, he’s definitely done a great job.”

Kansas will complete the Big 12 Championship Sunday with the final round beginning at 8 a.m.