Jayhawks Open Fall Slate in Colorado
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s golf will open its fall season Sunday with the 44thAnnual Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Jayhawks will take six players to the event. Seniors Chris Gilbert and Alex Gutesha, juniors Bryce Brown and Dylan McClure and sophomore transfer Stan Gautier will represent the Jayhawks for the team scoring. Junior Ryley Haas, who joined the squad this year after two years at Hutchinson Community College, will compete as an individual.
“Five of the guys have played Division I, and Ryley was from the junior college (level), so they’ve all seen collegiate golf,” said KU head golf coach Jamie Bermel, who enters his first season at the helm of the Kansas program after leading Colorado State to 12 NCAA Regionals in the past 13 years. “That part of it is good. They’re experienced. They’ve done it before. They know what it’s about. They understand we’re going out there for one reason and one reason only: to try to win the golf tournament.”
Bermel has been pleased with the progress his team has made since taking over the program on July 3.
“From top to bottom, I thought we needed to get better,” said Bermel. “Each guy has really worked hard. They’ve come to practice every day trying to get better. They’ve been in the weight room working hard. Hopefully when we get on the road, we’ll be ready to play some good golf.”
The 16-team tournament hosted by Air Force includes Colorado, Colorado State, New Mexico State, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Weber State and Wyoming among others.
“There are some Mountain West and Pac-12 teams, so it’s kind of a wide variety of teams,” Bermel said. “Home-course knowledge is critical. I’ve coached on that course the last eight years. (Assistant coach) Zach (Zaremba) has played on that course and grew up around there, so we’re familiar with the course.”
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