🏌️♂️ Jayhawks Wrap up Fall Season, Finish 8th at Ka’anapali Classic
LAHAINA, Maui – The Kansas Men’s Golf team closed out its fall season with an eighth-place finish at the Ka’anapali Classic at Ka’anapali Golf Course in Lahaina, Maui, shooting team scores of 280-277-277-834 (-18).
East Tennessee State and Oklahoma won the event at -42, while Liberty (-39), North Florida (-36) and San Jose State (-36) rounded out the top five.
“We played solid today but just couldn’t make enough birdies,” said head coach Jamie Bermel. “Davis and Cecil played well today and Max got better each round.”
After rounds of 72 and 68, senior Cecil Belisle fired off a three-under round of 68 to lead the Jayhawks in scoring for the event. Belisle finished the tournament at five-under and in a tie for 30th. In the final round, Belisle posted seven birdies, including a stretch of three-straight on holes three, four and five.
Sophomore Will King finished in a tie for 47th after firing a career-low 65 on Thursday, a one-under 70 on Friday and a four-over 75 on Saturday. King totaled a score of three-under after carding four birdies in the final round.
Senior Davis Cooper bounced back with a three-under round of 68, following up his opening rounds of 71 and 73. Cooper finished in a tie for 58th at one-under for the 54-hole event.
Senior Gunnar Broin posted rounds of 72, 67 and 73 to finish the event at one-under. Broin finished in a tie for 58th after carding three birdies, including an eagle on the par-five ninth hole.
Freshman Max Jelinek put together a solid three-under round of 68, highlighted by five birdies and just two bogies. Jelinek finished tied for 68th in the 120-player field.
Freshman Noah Holtzman made his collegiate debut for Kansas, finishing tied for 101st at nine-over par.
“We have a lot of work to do in the off-season and need to be ready to play when the spring season starts,” added Bermel.
Kansas had two individual winners during the fall, Belisle and King, which also included finishes of a top-10 along with two top-20 by a Jayhawk. The team’s top finish of the season came at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis (Sept. 10-11), where Kansas finished third at one-over in the 14-team field. The last time Kansas had back-to-back individual winners was the 2006-07 season, when 2019 U.S. Open Champion and former Jayhawk Gary Woodland won back-to-back tournaments.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will open their spring season at The Prestige in Laquinta, California, hosted at the PGA West – Greg Norman Course Feb. 19-21.
