Men’s golf heads to the inaugural Big 12 Match Play Tournament, Oct. 12-14
HOCKLEY, Texas – Kansas men’s golf is the fourth seed overall and will compete in Pool A for the inaugural Big 12 Match Play Tournament, Friday-Sunday, Oct. 12-14. The competition will be played at the 7,007-yard, par-71 Club at Houston Oaks in Hockley, Texas.
The Big 12 Match Play Tournament will begin on Friday, Oct. 12, with two-and-a-half days of pool play. Pool play will be split into two groups (Group A and B) and the winner of each round will be awarded three points, while a draw results in one point. Following the fifth round on Sunday morning, the team with the most points of each group will play head-to-head on Sunday afternoon for the title. The second-place teams from each pool will play for third and fourth and the third-place pool finishers for fifth and sixth and so forth.
The teams are ranked 1-10 based on the teams combined Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat rankings entering the tournament. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 1 nationally by Golfweek, while Oklahoma is No. 5, Texas No. 10 and Kansas No. 26.
Pool A will consist of 1. Oklahoma State; 4. KANSAS; 5. TCU, 8. Texas Tech; and 9. West Virginia.
Pool B will consist of 2. Oklahoma; 3. Texas; 6. Baylor; 7. Iowa State; and 10. Kansas State.
Kansas will open the tournament facing (5) TCU Friday morning and (8) Texas Tech Friday afternoon. On Saturday afternoon, the Jayhawks will play (9) West Virginia and conclude pool play Sunday morning against (1) Oklahoma State. All six rounds of the Big 12 Match Play Tournament will begin as a shotgun starts at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
“We have seven guys here, so we can substitute,” KU head coach Jamie Bermel said. “The key to match play is getting the right pairings.”
Kansas has posted three top-five finishes this fall and this will be KU’s first competition time since winning the Jackrabbit, Oct. 2, with Jayhawk sophomore Harry Hillier earning medalist honors.
KU senior Charlie Hillier will rejoin the team after finishing tied for 16th at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Oct. 4-7. In addition to the Hilliers, sophomore Ben Sigel, redshirt sophomore Drew Shepherd, junior Andy Spencer, senior Jake Scarrow and freshman Shaun Campbell made the trip to Hockley.
“We’ll probably lead out Friday with our most experienced players and sit Shaun Campbell,” Bermel said. “I’m excited for the format and I know our guys are excited as well.”
Live scoring for the Big 12 Match Play Tournament can be followed at Golfstat.com and Big12sports.com.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
