🏌️♂️ Jayhawks Selected for 5th-Straight NCAA Regional Appearance
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Men’s Golf Team qualified for NCAA Regional play for the fifth time in five straight tries on Wednesday as the Jayhawks were selected for the Tallahassee, Florida regional.
The postseason will officially begin for Kansas on May 17 at Seminole Legacy Golf Club. The Jayhawks are the No. 9 seed in the regional. Host Florida State is the No. 1 seed in the regional, with Georgia, Liberty, LSU and Georgia Tech rounding out the top five seeds. Georgia Southern, TCU and Indiana are seeded six through eight ahead of the Jayhawks.
Rounding out the regional are USC, Ohio State, Davidson, Florida A&M and LIU.
Kansas had a strong regular season under coach Jamie Bermel, who has led the Jayhawks to each of the past five regional appearances. The Jayhawks The Jayhawks finished in seventh place or better all but two tournaments this season.
“Any time you can play in May, in college golf, that’s a good thing,” Bermel said. “Now we have to try to get deeper into May. Hats off to the guys. Tough year. Tough year for the coaches; times we’ve never seen before. But we stayed patient, we stayed true to what we’re about, hard work and being disciplined and it worked out.”
The highlights included a second-place finish at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City and a fourth-place finish at the Colonial Collegiate Invitational.
The Jayhawks were paced in the regular season by Luke Kluver, who led the team with a scoring average of 72.55. In his final round at the Big 12 Championship, Kluver shot a 67, which tied his season-low, which he set one tournament prior in Iowa. The Norfolk, Nebraska native shot five-under over the final two rounds at the Big 12 Championship.
Harry Hillier and Ben Sigel were also regular season stalwarts for the Jayhawks with Hillier posting a scoring average of 72.86 and Sigel entering the regional with a scoring average of 73.82. Hillier had four top-20 finishes, including a second-place finish at the Colonial Collegiate Invitational and a fourth-place finish at the Hawkeye Invitational. Sigel posted a pair of sixth-place finishes.
“It’s awesome,” Hillier said of qualifying for posteason play. “We didn’t know if we were going to have a season or not, and I think the team and myself are just really grateful to be playing, but now we have a job to do.”
Kansas has also gotten strong play recently from Sion Audrain, William Duquette and Zach Sokolosky, who have all played in each of the last two tournaments for the Jayhawks.
