Low scores theme for men's golf on day two

PALM DESERT, Calif. – Led by a season-low round for junior Daniel Hudson, all Kansas golfers entered the clubhouse at even par or better, earning the Jayhawks a third-place spot on the leaderboard going into the final day of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate at The Classic Club.

“Some rain for the first six holes but very little wind and the golf course was set up a bit shorter than yesterday,” head coach Jamie Bermel said.

Hudson came out of the gates firing, collecting a birdie on his second hole, followed by another on his fifth. Making the turn at two-under-par, Hudson recorded the only blemish on his card with a bogey on his 12^th hole. Able to keep his composure, Hudson played his back nine at three-under-par. Hudson’s six birdies on the day resulted in a five-under-par, 67, placing him tied for eighth after entering the day at two-over-par.

Responding to a shaky first round 75, senior Chase Hanna was able to find his groove, posting a four-under-par, 68. Hanna also got off to a quick start by gathering a birdie on his first hole, setting him up to play his front nine at three-under-par, including his only bogey of the day. Coming into the day tied for 41^st, Hanna’s four-under-par performance places him tied for 14^th, putting him in a position to earn his fifth top-20 finish of the season.

Freshman Andy Spencer posted his second-career round under-par, putting him tied for 25^th place. Spencer made the turn at even-par and managed to get things going on his back nine with three birdies. A bogey on his final hole resulted in a two-under-par round. 

Starting round two tied for second place, sophomore Charlie Hillier managed to stay under-par, posting a 71 for the day. Collecting four total birdies on the day, Hillier ran into some problems towards the end of the round with back-to-back bogeys. Hillier, who has already earned two top-10 finishes this season, now sits in seventh place.

Junior Daniel Sutton made improvements from day one working his way to a tied for 46^th place after finishing the second round at even par. Sutton matched his three bogeys with three birdies, including a birdie to close out his round.

Responding from his eight-over-par finish in the first round, sophomore Jake Scarrow was able to play the second round at three-over-par.

“I think the guys felt like they played solid yesterday, but had too many costly doubles,” Bermel said. “The focus for today was to eliminate big numbers and to play efficient and disciplined golf. I thought we did a good job of that from top to bottom. We need to continue that on Sunday as well.”

As a whole, Kansas was 12-under-par on the day, placing them third in the 22-team field with a one stroke lead over No. 6 Texas Tech and an eight-stroke lead over TCU. No. 16 Oregon and No. 21 Colorado have both pulled away from the rest of the competition with Oregon sitting in first, 16 strokes ahead of the Jayhawks. Colorado is in second place with a 12-stroke lead on Kansas.

KUAthletics.com:  The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.