Gautier and Gilbert Combine for Nine Birdies in Second Round

Sept. 17, 2012

Round 2 Results Get Acrobat Reader

BURLINGTON, Iowa – Junior Stan Gautier fired five birdies, the most by a Kansas men’s golfer this season, while senior Chris Gilbert added four to lead the Jayhawks to a team score of 297 (+9) in the second round of the Golfweek Conference Challenge at Spirit Hollow Golf Course Monday.

Gilbert finished the day with a team-low round of 71 (-1) to climb into 13th place with 18 holes remaining, and Gautier’s season-best 72 (E) advanced him 18 spots into 39th. As a team, the Jayhawks’ 36-hole aggregate of 603 (+27) put them in 12th place. KU improved its first round score by nine strokes Monday.

“We had a better feel for the course today,” said Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel. “The weather was perfect for fifteen holes, so that really helped. We managed the golf course much better. We were one score away from having a pretty good day. Overall, I’m not real disappointed. When you improve nine shots, that’s good. I think the conditions tomorrow will be much more difficult with more wind. We need to play well.”

For the second-straight day, Gilbert posted the best score of any Jayhawk. Beginning his round on No. 10, Gilbert carded three birdies on the difficult back nine and made the turn at 2-under after shooting a 34 on his first nine holes. The senior made it all the way to 3-under through 16 holes before an unfortunate turn of events on the par-4 No. 8 set him back two strokes.

“He made a bad swing on his 17th hole,” said Bermel. “He hit it in the weeds and couldn’t find the ball. He had to go back to the tee and made a great par for a double bogey after he lost his ball. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and we kind of had a storm come in as he was ending. To his credit, he made par there and then went to the 18th hole and had a real nice look at birdie. He only had one bad swing all day.”

Gautier also put together a nice round except for one bad hole, a triple bogey on No. 6. Aside from the 445-yard par 4, which was his 15th hole of the day, Gautier recorded five birdies and only two bogeys as part of his eventual even-par 72.

“Stan played well,” said Bermel. “He stubbed his toe on No. 15 and made triple. Other than that, he played really, really well. He made some putts, which you obviously do when you make five birdies. He played solid, and hopefully, he continues to play that way. He needs to play well for us every round. He hasn’t really played up to his capability yet. Hopefully, that 72 will get him kick-started with more good rounds to come.”

With the forecast calling for 10-15 mph winds, Kansas will look to lower its score for the second-straight day in the final round of the event.

“I think if we can improve our score from today to tomorrow that would be good,” said Bermel. “I don’t think we’re going to get the conditions from today. When you get wind on this golf course, it’s going to play hard. We just have to worry about our game and see where that takes us.”

The final round of the Golfweek Conference Challenge begins with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.

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