🏌️♂️ King in First, Jayhawks Post Strong Opening Day at Gopher Invitational
INDEPENDENCE, Minn. – Kansas Men’s Golf sophomore Will King is alone in first place at eight-under par after firing a career-low round of 66 after an opening 68 at the Gopher Invitational at Windsong Farm Golf Club on Sunday.
The Jayhawks stand in third place at two-under and three strokes behind leaders Northwestern (-5) and UNC Wilmington (-5) after day one with 18 holes remaining on Monday. Tournament host Minnesota (-1) and Rutgers (-1) round out the top-five after Sunday’s first 36 holes.
“We played fairly solid today,” said head coach Jamie Bermel. “We finished poorly the first round, but bounced back and finished with a strong second round.”
King opened the event with a three-under round of 68 on Sunday morning, jolted by a 145-yard hole out for eagle on the par-four sixth. The Olathe, Kansas native stretched his lead to two strokes after posting a career-low 66 (-5) for the Jayhawks in the afternoon, putting together a bogey-free 18 holes to cap off his second round.
“Will battled today,” said Bermel. “He bogeyed his first hole of the tournament, but played really well. He hit a lot of quality shots today.”
Four days after winning the Folds of Honor Collegiate, senior Cecil Belisle fired rounds of 72-72 and sits tied for 35th, picking up back-to-back birdies on the last two holes in the second round to close out his day.
Shorewood, Minnesota native Gunnar Broin sits tied for 39th after rounds of 73 and 72. Broin carded four birdies in round one and three birdies in round two. Senior William Duquette joins Broin at a tie for 39th after rounds of 73 and 72, carding five birdies over the final 18 holes of day one.
Senior Davis Cooper got off to a slow start Sunday morning, posting a seven-over round of 78 to open the tournament. Cooper caught fire on the back half of the opening day, carding four birdies and a one-under round of 70 to sit T52.
“We’re in the last group of the final round and I know the guys will be excited for the opportunity,” Bermel added. “We need all five guys playing well on Monday.”
The Jayhawks will tee it up for the third and final round on Monday at 8:55 a.m. CT and will be paired with co-leaders Northwestern and UNC Wilmington. Live scoring will be available on Golfstat and fans can also follow along with live updates from the official Kansas Men’s Golf Twitter account.
Freshman duo Max Jelinek and Noah Holtzman finished play at the Minnesota Golf Classic today, making their collegiate golf debuts at Pioneer Creek Golf Course. Jelinek, a Prague, Czech Republic native, claimed a second-place finish after firing rounds of 66-74-68, posting an eight-under 54-hole event. From Wichita, Kansas, Holtzman tied for 24th after shooting even par for the tournament, posting rounds of 73-72-71.
