Harry Hillier leads Jayhawks to second place finish
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – No. 38 Kansas men’s golf competed in the final round of the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate on Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz. The team used a 287 (-1) performance on the final day to climb from fourth to second place overall in the 12-team field. The team’s second place finish gives them five top-three finishes in just seven tournaments in the 2018-19 season thus far.
For the second tournament in a row, and the fourth time this season, sophomore Harry Hillier finished as the team’s top performer of the tournament. Harry used a team low 67 (-5) round on Sunday to give him a 208 (-8) final score for the tournament. His 8-under final score earned him the number two spot overall in the 69-player field for the second straight tournament.
The Jayhawks’ second-best finisher for the tournament was senior Charlie Hillier, who finished just three strokes overall behind his brother and tied him for third place. His 71 (-1) score on Sunday was tied for the second lowest on the team and helped score him a 211 (-5) on the weekend.
Charlie’s 71 was matched by redshirt sophomore Drew Shepherd on Sunday, who competed as an individual throughout the tournament. Shepherd finished with an overall score of 219 (+3) which placed him tied for 13th overall in the field.
Redshirt freshman Jeff Doty came in as Kansas’ fourth best finisher of the tournament after scoring a 221 (+5) over the course of the three rounds. That was good enough to place him tied for 17th.
Junior Andy Spencer’s 226 (+10) and sophomore Ben Sigel’s 229 (+13) rounded out the Jayhawks six that competed.
Mississippi State took home the top spot in the tournament with an 856 (-8) final score. They were led by Garrett Johnson who finished one stroke ahead (-9) of Harry for the top spot on the player leaderboard.
Kansas will now have two weeks off before their next scheduled tournament. The Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate will take place March 24-26.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jamie Bermel
Q: What did you think of the overall team performance this weekend?
A: “We played well in the first and last rounds but let the 2nd round get away from us a little bit. Same story again this week, we struggled to get a good 4th score. Was really pleased the way the guys battled today. Pins were hard and we kept plugging away and had the low round of the day.”
Q: What did you think of Harry’s performance for the second tournament in a row?
A: “Harry was very good again this week but came up a little short. He continues to make progress and if he keeps knocking on the door, he will win again. This is a kid that didn’t play one event the fall of his freshman year and now has 1 win and 2 2nd place finishes this year. I thought Charlie had a good week hitting the ball but got nothing out of his putter.”
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