Barbee and Koelbel Lead Jayhawks to First-Day Lead at Kansas Invitational

Sept. 17, 2007

LAWRENCE, KAN. –

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Nate Barbee and Walt Koelbel both stand in the top-five after day one at the Kansas Invitational leading the Jayhawks to the lead after two rounds. Kansas opened with a first-round score of 298, then followed that up with a round of 292 in the afternoon at Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence, Kan.

“The morning round for us was just average because we let a few shots slip away at the end, but we put up a very good score when you consider the windy conditions in the afternoon,” said head coach Kit Grove.

Barbee shot rounds of 73 and 72 to finish the day tied for second place, just one behind leader Jordan Irwin of Houston. Barbee lead the Jayhawks as a team in his first collegiate tournament at the St. Mary’s Invitational with a 47th place finish.

“I am very pleased with Nate (Barbee),” said Grove. “For a freshman he is a very steady player that doesn’t seem to get bothered by things and is very easy to coach.”

Koelbel tied his career-low round of 69 in the second round to offset an opening-round 77 to finish the day tied for fifth place. Koelbel also shot a round of 69 at the 2007 Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes Golf Club.

“Walt showed great heart today,” said Grove. “He went into the water on the fourth hole and to come back and shoot the low-round of the day in this type of wind is very tough to do.”

Freshman Brad Hopfinger opened his collegiate career in strong style shooting rounds of 74 and 75 to finish the day tied for 17th. Hopfinger fired eight birdies on the day.

“Brad played some great holes and then some not so good holes, but that is what you expect from a kid in his collegiate debut,” said Grove.

Junior Andrew Storm carded a first-day total of 150 in his Jayhawk debut and stands in a tie for 21st. Senior Joey Mundy rounded out the Jayhawk lineup by shooting rounds of 80 and 77 to finish tied for 67th.

Four Jayhawks are competing in the tournament as individuals, most notably junior Zach Pederson who fired a two-round total of 149 to finish the day tied for 17th. Sophomore Patrick Roth shot rounds of 79 and 78 to finish day one tied for 67th. Sophomore Bobby Knowles is tied for 79th with a score of 160, while junior Daniel Brumley is in 90th place with a score of 166.

The Jayhawks with a team score of 590, lead in-state rival Kansas State by five strokes in the team standings. Oral Roberts, UNC-Wilmington, and Houston are all tied for third place with a score of 596. Fellow Big 12 competitor, Nebraska, stands in sixth place with a score of 600.

The Jayhawks will attempt to clinch their fourth-straight Kansas Invitational title when they take the course for the final-round Tuesday morning. Check back to kuathletics.com for complete results and recap.

Team Leaderboard
1. Kansas 298-292–590
2. Kansas State 298-297–595
T3. Oral Roberts 295-301–596
T3. Houston 304-292–596
T3. UNC-Wilmington 292-304–596

Player Leaderboard
1. Jordan Irwin (Houston) 74-70–144
T2. Nate Barbee (Kansas) 73-72–145
T2. Will Shambley (UNCW) 73-72–145
T2. Luke Joy (Drake) 74-71–145
T5. Walt Koelbel (Kansas) 77-69–146
T5. Ben Moser (Houston) 76-70–146
T5. Austin Hannah (Oral Roberts) 73-73–146
T5. Mike Coatman (Nebraska) 72-74–146
T5. Kyle Smell-I (Kansas State) 72-74–146
T17. Brad Hopfinger (Kansas) 74-75–149
T17. Zach Pederson-I (Kansas) 76-73–149
T21. Andrew Storm (Kansas) 74-76–150
T67. Joey Mundy (Kansas) 80-77–157
T67. Patrick Roth-I (Kansas) 79-78–157
T79. Bobby Knowles-I (Kansas) 82-78–160
90. Daniel Brumley-I (Kansas) 82-84–166