Jayhawks continue their campaign at the Maui Jim

LAWRENCE, Kan. – After a seventh place finish in its first tournament of the season, KU men’s golf will look to improve their place on the leaderboard as they head to Scottsdale, Ariz., to compete in the Maui Jim Intercollegiate. The event will take place September 23-25 at Mirabel Golf Club.

In its season opener, the Jayhawks looked to be in a solid position to move up the leaderboard after finishing the first day in fifth place. Shaky course management created challenges for Kansas as they dropped two spots on the final day. In preparation for this weekend, head coach Jamie Bermel enforced course management was the focus in practice.

“We worked on some course management issues and I hope we can be more efficient on the course this week, eliminating the double-bogeys,” Bermel said.

Kansas will look to its experience as senior Chase Hanna, junior Daniel Hudson and sophomore Charlie Hillier will be making the trek to Scottsdale to compete.
Hanna will continue his streak as he has played in every tournament in his time as a Jayhawk. He finished tied for 15th at the Rod Myers Invitational to start the season, marking the 16th top-20 finish of his career.

“Chase is a gamer and brings that mentality to practice everyday,” Bermel said. “He is just a great competitor and I’m certain he will be ready to play this week.”

Hillier comes off of a solid performance in the Rod Myer, finishing tied for eighth and racking up the seventh top-10 finish of his career. This will also be Hudson’s second event of the season after finishing tied for 40th in the Rod Myer.

Idaho transfer, Dan Sutton was able to make his way into the lineup and will compete in his first tournament as a Jayhawk. Sutton posted a 72.1 scoring average last season which led to being named Big Sky Freshman of the Year and earning two All-Big Sky First Team honors.

“We did some qualifying this week and Dan Sutton got into the lineup,” Bermel said. “He has a lot of experience and I expect him to play well this week.”

Freshman Andy Spencer will compete after shooting a three-under-par 69, which dating back to 2004 is the first time by a freshman. Redshirt-freshman Alex Moorman will also travel and compete as an individual.

“Andy Spencer qualified again this week and I’m certain he learned a lot in his first college event,” Bermel said. “Alex Moorman will play as the individual. It will be good to get him some college experience.”

Leading the 16-team field will consist of five ranked in the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), including LSU (No. 7),  Cal (T-11), South Carolina (No. 17), South Florida (No. 22) and Baylor (No. 24) and also includes Georgia Tech, UAB, and Houston which received votes. Rounding out the competition is Georgia State, Grand Canyon, Chattanooga, Augusta, Kent State, Hawaii and Notre Dame.

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