Jayhawks in Fourth Place Entering Final Round at Kansas Invitational
Sept. 28, 2009
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
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Nate Barbee continued his fast start to his junior campaign with a first-day 143 at the Kansas Invitational to lead the Kansas men’s golf team to a fourth-place finish entering the final round at Alvamar Country Club.
Barbee carded a second round 69, tying for the low round of the day, to close the day within one shot of the leader. Barbee will be looking for his third top-five finish in the first three events of the season.
The Jayhawks trail the leader, Missouri, by seven strokes entering the last round of play. Kansas shot a 295 as a team in the first round, and then followed that up with a second round 301.
“We played pretty well in the morning, but we stubbed our toe a little bit coming in this afternoon,” said head coach Kit Grove. “I was really proud of how Nate (Barbee) played and we are close enough to the leader that if we play well tomorrow we have a shot at winning the tournament.”
Freshman Chris Gilbert carded rounds of 74 and 75 to place himself tied for 19th entering the final day. Senior Bryan Hackenberg continued his steady play with a first-day score of 150 and is tied for 23rd.
Freshman Jeff Bell fired a first round 73, followed by an 81 to enter the final round tied for 37th. Freshman Alex Gutesha shot rounds of 80 and 86 to place tied for 75th.
The remainder of the team is competing in the event as individuals. Senior Patrick Roth fired the second best round of the day for the Jayhawks with a second round 73 and is tied for 27th. Sophomore Ian Anson matched Roth’s 73 in the second round and is also tied for 27th entering the third round.
Sophomore Blake Giroux carded rounds of 77 and 78 to place tied for 44th. Freshman Dan Waite shot a first-day 159 in his collegiate debut and is tied for 58th. Sophomore Bobby Knowles shot a 166 on day one and is tied for 75th.
Missouri, the team leader, was led by Jace Long who leads the event after two rounds with back-to-back rounds of 71. Barbee, is joined by Illinois State’s Tommy Bliefnick, one shot behind Long. Oklahoma and Louisiana-Lafayette are tied for second place on the team leaderboard, two shots behind Missouri.
The final round will begin with a shotgun at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Check back to kuathletics.com for a complete recap of the final round of the Kansas Invitational.
Team Leaderboard
1. Missouri 293-296–589
T2. Oklahoma 291-300–591
T2. Louisiana-Lafayette 301-290–591
4. Kansas 295-301–596
5. Illinois State 300-299–599
Player Leaderboard
1. Jace Long, Missouri 71-71–142
T2. Nate Barbee, Kansas 74-69–143
T2. Tommy Bliefnick, Illinois State 71-72–143
T4. Philipp Fendt, Louisiana-Lafayette 75-69–144
T4. Eric Meier, Illinois State 71-73–144
T19. Chris Gilbert, Kansas 74-75–149
T23. Bryan Hackenberg, Kansas 74-76–150
T27. Ian Anson, Kansas-I 78-73–151
T27. Patrick Roth, Kansas-I 78-73–151
T37. Jeff Bell, Kansas 73-81–154
T44. Blake Giroux, Kansas-I 77-78–155
T58. Dan Waite, Kansas-I 81-78–159
T75. Alex Gutesha, Kansas 80-86–166
T75. Bobby Knowles, Kansas-I 83-83–166
