Kansas Golf Signs Three

Nov. 23, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s golf coach Kit Grove announced three signees to his program, including two high school players and a junior college transfer.

Among the signees are David Auer from Kapuan Mt. Carmel High School in Wichita, Kan., Dylan McClure from Northwest High School in Justin, Texas and Tyler Russell from McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas.

“We are excited to add David, Dylan and Tyler to an already young and talented core of returning players,” Grove said.

Auer is a two-time all-state selection after placing fourth in the state tournament as a freshman and second as a junior. He is a three-time all-city and all-region selection heading into his senior year.

Auer was the conference tournament runner-up in each of his first three seasons and won regional medalist honors as a freshman. Last spring he led his team to the state title. The Crusaders have also won three city league championships.

Auer owns a 4.26 weighted grade-point average and a 3.92 un-weighted GPA and plans to major in engineering or business at Kansas.

“I chose KU because I know coach Grove and (assistant) coach (John) Handrigan help their players take their game to a higher level,” Auer said. “I am excited about the opportunity to compete in the Big 12 and get a world class education at the University of Kansas. It will be a great honor to represent KU in golf.”

McClure is the seventh-ranked player in Texas in the polo rankings. He owns a 72 scoring average and was the district 5-5A individual medalist. He holds a number of school records, including scoring average and his low tournament round is 64. The two-time team captain has earned academic all-state and all-district honors.

“Coach Grove and coach Handrigan, along with the rest of the members of the golf program, are making my goals a reality,” McClure said. “I can’t wait to set new goals at the University of Kansas. The team is young and I see nothing but success in the next few years. My future with Kansas cannot come soon enough.”

Russell, who played high school golf at Elk City (Okla.) High School before moving onto McLennan CC, was ranked as the No. 1 junior college player in the country by Golfstat last fall. He finished last year as an All-America Second-Team selection after placing eighth in the NJCAA national championship.

Russell has been part of a state championship team in high school and a national championship team in junior college. As a prep senior he won 11 of 12 tournaments, including the state championship.

“I have been very fortunate to have been part of a high school state championship team and a national junior college national championship team, while also winning an individual state title,” Russell said. “I am looking forward to possibly winning our second national junior college title and the individual title this spring.”

“We feel that these players will have an immediate impact on our roster,” Handrigan said. “We expect each of these players to be very successful academically and athletically during their KU careers.”