🏌️‍♂️Jayhawks Battle Tough Conditions in Oregon; Currently Sit in 5th

EUGENE, Ore. – The Kansas Men’s Golf Team battled frost, rain and cold temperatures on Monday at the opening day of the Duck Invitational at Eugene Country Club. Despite the difficult conditions, the Jayhawks are currently in fifth place as the second round came to a halt thanks to darkness.

Kansas will enter Tuesday’s final day of play at +16, four shots ahead of sixth place Santa Clara. Host Oregon (ranked No. 28) is leading the way at +1, followed by No. 23 Colorado State (+8), Oregon State (+12) and Colorado (+14). All Jayhawks have played at least 13 holes. The second round will resume at 8:15 a.m., followed by the third and final round.

The Jayhawks are currently being led by junior Gunnar Broin, who is sitting tied for sixth place at +1. Broin is -1 on his second round through 14 holes and was three-under on the back nine. He teed off on No. 5, so he will play holes one through four to finish out his round. Cecil Belisle is inside the Top 30, tied for 29th through 15 holes of the second round. Belisle is five-over for the tournament.

Davis Cooper is one shot behind him at +6, while William Duquette is seven-over and Will King is +8. Zach Sokolosky, playing as an individual, is tied with Duquette and others in 39th place.

“It was a tough course and tough conditions today,” Coach Jamie Bermel said. “There was a frost delay this morning, and then rain came around 4 p.m. We got off to an awful start this morning, but kind of battled back. Hopefully we can play more golf on Tuesday as the forecast doesn’t look good.

“Cecil had a nice first round and Gunnar is playing well in the second round. The key is to finish well in the second round and then tough out a third round.”

Belisle had the low round for the team in the first round with an even-par 71, which included an eagle on the par-five 16th. Broin and Sokolosky both shot 73s in the opening round.

In the second round, Broin started with a double bogey, but birdied his next hole. After a bogey on the next, Broin played his next 10 holes at -3 with four birdies. King and Cooper are both +2 in the second round for the second-best score behind Broin.