RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – The Kansas men’s golf team wrapped up its 2023-24 season with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe Regional at The Farms Golf Club on Wednesday, shooting team scores of 297-298-288–883 to finish +43 for the event.
Oklahoma won the 14-team regional at -3. The five teams that advanced to the NCAA Championship include Oklahoma, California (+3), Oklahoma State (+5), West Virginia (+5) and North Florida (+10). Oklahoma’s Ben Lorenz won the event at -8, while San Diego’s Andi Xu (-4) advanced to the championship as the low individual.
“It was a disappointing end to the season,” Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel said after the final round. “We just didn’t produce this week but there are some positives to take away. We have three guys coming back next year so hopefully they learn from this and we’ll be better next year.”
Kansas was led in the third round by senior Cecil Belisle, who fired off a two-under round of 68 to finish T25 at +5. Belisle made the turn at even par, before making birdie on three of his next four holes. On the day, Belisle totaled five birdies and put together an under-par round in his final collegiate golf tournament. During his two-year tenure at Kansas, Belisle posted 12 rounds in the 60’s and carried a 72.4 scoring average. This season, Belisle won two individual titles and finished inside of the Top 20 on three occasions.
Senior Davis Cooper posted a one-over round of 71 to finish the event T50 at +13, putting an end to his four-year Kansas career. For the first two holes, Cooper found himself +3 but went -2 over the final 16 holes. For his career, Cooper teed it up for 113 rounds in 38 events, posting 18 rounds in the 60s with eight finishes inside the Top 20 and an individual title in 2021. Cooper was a part of four-straight NCAA Regional appearances for Bermel.
Freshman Max Jelinek made his NCAA Regional debut and led Kansas in scoring for the first two days after rounds of 71 (+1) and 74 (+4). Jelinek shot an 80 in the final round to finish T54 at +15.
Senior Gunnar Broin shot rounds of 77-74-77 to finish T61 at +18.
Sophomore Will King finished T63 at +19 after opening the tournament with rounds of 77 and 80. King bounced back for Kansas, posting a two-over 72 in the final round.
Senior William Duquette, who was the alternate for Kansas this week, graduated alongside Belisle and Cooper to cap off his four-year Kansas career. During his tenure, Duquette finished inside of the Top 20 on 10 occasions, inside of the Top 10 six times and twice inside of the Top 5. Duquette competed in 34 events and 102 rounds of golf to finish his career with a 73.2 scoring average. Duquette was a part of four NCAA Regional appearances and a member on the 2022 NCAA Championship team.
“We say goodbye to three great Jayhawks,” Bermel added. “William Duquette, Davis Cooper and Cecil Belisle were three great players for our program. We’re going to miss those guys but hopefully they enjoyed their experience and I know they represented KU with great class.”
