KU Men's Golf To Compete in Colorado Invitational Monday
Sept. 22, 2012
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Following a top-10 finish as a team at the Golfweek Conference Challenge as well as a top-15 individual placing by senior Chris Gilbert, Kansas men’s golf will look to build on last week’s success when it begins the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational Monday at Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo.
“I think Chris played solid,” said Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel. “All three (Gilbert, Dylan McClure and Stan Gautier) played pretty solid this week. We have to do a better job eliminating the big numbers – Stan had a couple, Chris had a couple, Dylan had one. That happens, but I think they’re good enough players that if they can eliminate a couple numbers (they’d have a chance to move up). We saw progress. They’re doing a better job of finishing their rounds, especially when they’re playing well. We’ll need to continue to work on that this week as well.”
Gilbert, McClure and Gautier each posted rounds of 74 or better to conclude the Golfweek Conference Challenge, but the lack of a consistent fourth scorer throughout the event hurt the Jayhawks in the team standings. Looking to fix that, Coach Bermel elected to take senior Alex Gutesha and freshman Jackson Foth as the fourth and fifth golfers to the third event of the season. A native of nearby Greenwood Village, Colo., Gutesha will be participating in the Colorado Invitational for the third time in his career, while Foth will make his Jayhawk debut on the 7,741-yard, par-72 championship course.
“We had some guys qualifying here while we were playing last week,” said Bermel. “They actually played pretty good. Jackson Foth is a freshman that’s going to get in the lineup this week, and we’re bringing Alex Gutesha back in. He played at Air Force and sat out last week. We’re going to change it up a little bit.”
Along with Gutesha, Gilbert will be making his third trip to the Colorado Invitational, while McClure played his first career collegiate event there last fall. Coach Bermel also knows Colorado National Golf Club very well, having joined the Jayhawks after coaching at Colorado State for 13 years.
“I’ve played it a number of times myself, coached there a number of times, I’m pretty familiar with the golf course,” said Bermel. “It’s one of those where you can’t make any silly mistakes. There’s not a lot of water, not a lot of trouble, but when there is water and trouble you have to stay out of it. If you can do that, there are a lot of birdie opportunities. I think the course will be playing a little faster this fall, not as much rain out there so it’ll be firm and fast. If you can make enough putts, that’ll be the key. It’ll be under-par to win this week.”
The Colorado Invitational begins with 36 holes Monday and will conclude with the final round Tuesday.
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