Three Jayhawks in top-20 position at end of Saturday’s 36 holes

Kannapolis, N.C. – Led by senior Daniel Sutton’s even-par performance, the Kansas men’s golf team is in fifth place after Saturday’s Irish Creek Invitational action.

The Jayhawks came out of the first round with a 285, the fourth-best score out of the playing field, but walked away from the second round with a 297. Though the team is in another top-5 position before the Sunday’s final round, head coach Jamie Bermel knows that his team could have performed better during Saturday’s second round.

“We got off to a fast start this morning and then played fairly average the remaining 27 holes,” said Bermel. “It was rainy and windy for most of the day, but the temperature dropped considerably during the second round of 18 holes. Unfortunately, some of our guys weren’t prepared enough for cold temperatures and I think that might have affected their performance.”

Sutton was not one to be affected by the bad weather, as his even-par day came by way of a 1-under 70 in the first round and a 1-over 72 in the second. During the senior’s first 18, he recorded six birdies. His two birdies on his final 18 put him at eight on the day, which is the sixth most of any golfer in the event.

One stroke behind Sutton was junior Charlie Hillier, who ended the day at 1-over. Hillier tallied a 2-under 69 during his first 18, which was the best round by any Jayhawk on the day. With another round in the 60’s to his resume, Hillier now has eight on the season, which is the most on the team.

Also in a top-20 position is sophomore Andy Spencer, who sits at 3-over before Sunday’s final round. Spencer started off strong with an even-par 71 before four bogeys during his second round dropped his score. Should Sutton hang on to a spot in the top-20, it will mark his 10th-career finish in the top-20, joining Hillier and senior Daniel Hudson as the only Jayhawks with double digit top-20 finishes.

The remaining two golfers competing for the Crimson and Blue were freshman Harry Hillier and Daniel Hudson, who both ended with a 10-over, tied for 53rd place. Hudson started off strong, grabbing four birdies on his front nine, before relinquishing 11 bogeys on his remaining 27 holes. Harry Hillier struggled early and ended with a 4-over 75 on the first round and a 6-over 77 on his second.

Before Sunday’s final round, Bermel knows it will take consistency from top-to-bottom to maintain a top-5 position.

“We need to have a strong fourth score (Sunday),” said Bermel. “We had to count a 4-over and a 6-over today as our fourth scores today, and those hurt. We’ll need to improve those.”

Sunday’s third and final round tees off at 7:30 a.m. CT, with live scoring available at golfstat.com.
 
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