KU golf fourth after first round at Badger Invite
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MADISON, Wis. – Junior Charlie Hillier birdied hole No. 7 and the Kansas men’s golf team stood atop the Badger Invitational leaderboard as the Jayhawks made the turn at University Ridge Golf Course Sunday, but bigger numbers on the back nine moved KU back into fourth place at the end of the first round.
“I thought we played fairly solid on the front nine,” said head coach Jamie Bermel. “We got a little sloppy on the back.”
Hillier and sophomore Andy Spencer led the way for the Jayhawks, as the team ended the first round at even par. Hiller cruised through the front nine carding a pair of birdies and taking a 2-under score to the back. A bogey on No. 10 and double bogey on No. 14 slowed the New Zealand native, but he added two more birdies to finish the round tied for 10th at 1-under.
Spencer matched Hillier with a 1-under, after scoring three birdies and pair of bogeys. He was 1-under on the first nine holes, but stayed even on the back.
In all, four out of the five Jayhawks shot even or under par on the front nine, led by Hillier’s 34. Senior Daniel Hudson opened the day with a double-bogey, but rebounded with three birdies to be 1-under at the turn. History repeated itself, as he started the back with a triple bogey on No. 10, but responded with three birdies. With a pair of bogeys also on the back, Hudson ended the day at 1-over and tied for 29th.
Junior Jake Scarrow matched Hudson’s 73, but had a much different round than his teammates. Scarrow was 1-over on the front nine, but worked through the back half of the course at even par. Freshman Ben Sigel, playing as an individual also posted a 1-over, 73 in his first collegiate round.
Senior Daniel Sutton rounded out the KU scoring with a 2-over, 74. As one of only four teams to shoot even or under par on the round, the Jayhawks will now turn their attention to Monday’s action.
“We need to eliminate the big numbers if we want to move up the leaderboard,” added Bermel.
The Jayhawks currently sit three strokes behind Nevada and Wisconsin, which share a tie for second place. No. 16 Texas A&M leads the event at 12 under-par.
Monday’s action starts at 9 a.m., with live scoring available at birdiefire.com.
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