Kansas Sits in Second After Day One of Desert Shootout

Day One Results

PHOENIX, Ariz. – With the help of senior Connor Peck and junior Chase Hanna, the Kansas men’s golf team sits just four strokes behind Big-12 foe Iowa State heading into Saturday’s final day of the Desert Intercollegiate. After the opening rounds of the event, the Jayhawks are amongst the tournament’s leaders in birdies recorded, as the team carded 22 birdies on the day, leading them to a two-round total of 551 (-21) on the par-72, 7,015-yard course.

“We played well today but just didn’t make enough birdies,” Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel said. “I was really proud of Daniel Hudson in the second round. His 67 was a very good score in the afternoon.”
 
Entering the third round, Hanna will pursue his second top-five finish of the season and fifth of his career. In the first two rounds, he carded scores of 67-70–137 (-7), making this the ninth time this season that the he has fired off scores under par. For Peck, he too is tied for fifth amongst the 116-player field, after scoring back-to-back rounds of 68-69–137 (-7). The two teammates sit just four strokes behind overall individual leader Denzel Ieremia (-11) of Iowa State.
 
Behind Hanna and Peck on the Kansas leaderboard is Hudson, who was able to bounce back in the second round with a 67 (-5), after recording a two-over, 74 in the morning session. The sophomore currently stands tied for 21^st, and will look to climb the leaderboard on Saturday in pursuit of his fourth top-20 finish of the season.
 
As the team’s leader in stroke average per round, senior Ben Welle also had a bounce back performance in the second round. After carding a 72 (E) in the morning, Welle fired back with a two-under, 70 in the afternoon, which was good enough to be tied for 28^th.
 
Rounding off the group of players representing the Jayhawks is freshman Charlie Hillier, who currently sits in the top-40. He consistently played well throughout the two rounds, walking off the course at the end of the day with scores of 72-71–143 (-1).
 
Competing as an Individual is sophomore Brock Drogosch, who opened up the tournament with scores of 72-75–147 (+3), where he currently finds himself tied for 70^th.

“We have some ground to make up in the final round and I know the guys will be up for the challenge,” Bermel said.”
 
The third and final round of the Desert Shootout will take place on Saturday at Palm Valley Golf Club. For live stats and up-to-date standings, be sure to following along at birdiefire.com.
 
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