Jayhawks in 6th; Kluver in 1st at Maridoe Collegiate

CARROLLTON, Texas – Luke Kluver paced the Kansas Men’s Golf Team on the opening day of play at the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational at the Maridoe Golf Club with an opening-round 68.

Kluver, one of just five players in the 72-person field to finish under par, totaled five birdies in the first round, including four in a five-hole stretch on the front nine. At four-under, Kluver is in first place after 18 holes. He has a two-shot lead on Markus Braadlie from Texas Tech.

Kluver’s hot start has Kansas in sixth place as a team at 18-over. Baylor is leading the way at +11 in tough conditions throughout the opening round. North Texas, the host team, is one shot back at +12. Pepperdine, Texas and Oklahoma State rounded out the top five.

“It was a very difficult golf course today,” Coach Jamie Bermel said. “The golf course was hard, and it was windy as well. Luke had an impressive round today. I thought maybe someone might shoot a couple under and he shot four-under. We need to eliminate the big numbers. We had to count some high numbers today, and it really hurt our team score.

“It’s a new day on Monday, and we need to lace up the shoes and be ready to battle.”

William Duquette shot a five-over 77 and is tied for 29th after the opening 18. He birdied No. 5 and 16. Jeff Doty shot a seven-over 79 and is tied for 41st. Harry Hillier is tied for 60th while Ben Sigel is tied for 70th.

Kluver, who had two Top-10 finishes in his debut season last year, currently has a three-shot lead on the rest of the field. He picked up birded on holes five, six, eight and nine to card a front-nine 32. He shot an even par 36 on the back with a birdie and a bogey on his card. He had particular success on the par threes, playing those four holes at two-under.

The Jayhawks will begin round two at 9 a.m., Monday morning. Kluver will tee off at 9:40 a.m.