🏌️‍♂️ Jayhawks Set for Regional Play in Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – The Kansas Men’s Golf team will open play at its seventh-straight NCAA Regional on Monday when the Jayhawks take the course at Jimmie Austin Golf Club for the Norman Regional as the No. 10 seed.

The 14-team field consists of – in seeded order, with national rankings –  (1) No. 5 Texas Tech, (2) No. 9 Oklahoma – Big 12 Champion, (3) No. 17 Alabama, (4) No. 20 Ole Miss, (5) No. 29 Wake Forest, (6) No. 32 Duke, (7) No. 41 LSU, (8) No. 44 North Florida, (9) No. 52 Colorado, (10) No. 56 Kansas, (11) No. 77 UNCW – CAA Champion, (12) No. 131 Louisiana – Sun Belt Champion, (13) No. 182 Princeton – Ivy League Champion, (14) No. 269 Arkansas-Pine Bluff – SWAC Champion.

Coach Jamie Bermel will stick with the same lineup the Jayhawks went with for the Big 12 Championship and the majority of the spring season in juniors Gunnar Broin, William Duquette, Davis Cooper and Cecil Belisle and freshman Will King. Redshirt junior Zach Sokolosky will serve as the alternate for the Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks will tee off beginning at 9:25 a.m., on hole 10 and will be paired with UNCW and Louisiana. Belisle will be the first to go off at 9:25, followed by King (9:36), Cooper (9:47), Duquette (9:58) and Broin (10:09). The field is scheduled to play 18 holes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale later this month.

“It’s a great week for men’s college golf,” Bermel said. “I know the team is excited to play this week. This is a great golf course, and I’m certain the course will play long this week as they have gotten a lot of rain and the course is soft. Regional play is a little different than a regular event. Every team is trying to be in the top five and advance. We don’t have to play great, we just have to play solid and eliminate the big numbers.”

Kansas has been led this season by Broin, who leads the team in scoring average at 71.74. He has five Top 10 finishes to his credit this year, including a runner-up finish at the Hawkeye Invitational. He finished tied for 27th at the Big 12 Championship last time out.

Duquette, one of the only returners from last season, has also had a strong junior campaign with a scoring average of 72.47 and three Top 10 finishes. He led the way at the Big 12 Championship for Kansas with a T15 finish.

Newcomers Belisle and King have also had a major impact this season. Belisle had a strong showing at the Big 12 Championship, tying for 24th. His best finish this season came at the Gopher Invitational, where he finished tied for fourth. King, who took eighth at the Hawkeye Invitational for his best finish of the season, took 33rd at the Big 12 Championship and has a season scoring average of 73.21.

Cooper, another who saw time in the lineup last season, has also been a constant in the lineup this season, and finished 32nd at the Big 12 Championship.

Live stats for the regional will be available through Golfstat.