LA QUINTA, Calif. – Senior Cecil Belisle birdied his final three holes to post a four-under 67 and the Kansas men’s golf team posted a team score of 278 (-6) in the opening round of The Prestige on Monday at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West.
Belisle, who is tied for sixth place, carded five birdies and allowed just one bogey on the day to tie for his lowest round as a Jayhawk. After making a bogey on his fourth hole of the opening round, Belisle tabbed 11-straight pars before making a trio of birdies to cap off his 67 (-4).
“We had a solid day for our first round of the spring,” Head Coach Jamie Bermel said after the round. “We made a few careless mistakes but hung in there and played a nice round of golf.”
No. 24 Texas Tech leads the 24-team field with a score of -13. Kansas State and No. 5 Washington sit in a tie for second at -10. No. 47 Louisville (-7) is in fourth and Kansas rounds out the top-five at -6. The Jayhawks were grouped with San Francisco (+8) and Princeton (E) and teed off on hole 10 for the opening round.
“We can’t win the tournament on the first day, but you can put yourself behind the eight ball with a slow start,” said Bermel. “We should have perfect weather again tomorrow and we need to play very disciplined golf the next 36 holes.”
Senior Davis Cooper got off to a hot start, making the turn at three-under after his front nine. Despite Cooper allowing a couple of bogeys on his final nine holes, the Overland Park native strung together a two-under round of 69, which included a team-high seven birdies on the scorecard. Cooper sits T19 after day one.
Senior William Duquette is tied for 37th after an even-par 71. Duquette put together a solid round of golf after collecting three birdies for his scorecard.
Sophomore Will King joins Duquette at T37, also finishing his round at even par. Despite allowing four bogeys on his card, King notched four birdies on the day and closed out with a one-under on his back nine.
Senior Gunnar Broin sits T93 after an opening round of 76 (+5).
“Gunnar didn’t have his best stuff today, but I’m certain he will bounce back the next two rounds,” Bermel added. “Cecil had a good round and a great finish with three birdies to end his round. Davis was under par with a few birdies, and William Duquette and Will King played steady.”
Freshman Max Jelinek and sophomore Marijn Hoogeveen competed as individuals at the Golf Club at Terra Lago. Jelinek carded four birdies on the day and posted a two-over round of 74. Hoogeveen sits T41 after a four-over round of 76.
Kansas will tee off for the second round at 8:45 a.m. CT off of hole 1. Live scoring for the second round will be available on Smart Golf. Fans can also follow along with live updates from the official Kansas Men’s Golf Twitter account.
