Late surge results in a second-place finish for Kansas
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MADISON, Wis. – Sophomore Andy Spencer’s bid at his first-career medal came up short, but Kansas was able to come out of the Badger Invitational with two top-10 individual performances and a second-place team finish, just six strokes behind Texas A&M.
Despite being two shots short of the individual title, Spencer had another strong showing during the third and final day at the University Ridge Golf Course. The Leawood, Kansas native got off to an unfortunate start, but thanks to birdies on three of his last four holes, he was able to finish the day at 2-under, lowering his tournament total to 10-under. The impressive number sat atop 101 names on the individual leaderboard, but came up shy of Texas A&M’s Chandler Phillips for the title of individual champion.
“I’m really happy for Andy,” said head coach Jamie Bermel. “He played great all week and played like a veteran out there (Tuesday).”
Joining Spencer in the top-10 was senior Daniel Sutton, who was the leader of a team-wide, back-nine rally that featured 16 combined birdies for the Jayhawks. Sutton’s third-day total of 68 led the Jayhawks on the day and resulted in a tie for eighth place on the leaderboard, up 10 spots from where he was at the end of the second round.
As a team, KU was 11-under on the day, which was the best final round in the 16-team field. The Jayhawks fired a 277, their best round of the event.
Another Jayhawk who rode the momentum on the back nine was junior Charlie Hillier. His 3-under finish didn’t feature a single bogey on the day and was good for second-best on the team. As a result, Hillier tied for 15th overall, marking his fourth top-20 finish of his career.
Senior Daniel Hudson’s finish proved to be crucial, as his three birdies on his last three holes allowed the Jayhawks to move past Marquette for sole possession of second place. The veteran tallied six birdies, two pars and a single bogey on his final nine holes to bring his total on the day to 2-under.
Playing as an individual, freshman Ben Sigel bounced back in a big way. After posting a 10-over-par mark Monday, Sigel fired a 3-under 69 in the final round of his first collegiate event. He finished tied for 54th overall with a 224.
Rounding out the Jayhawks scorecard was junior Jake Scarrow, who was unable to bounce back from a pair of double bogeys on his first nine holes. Regardless of the shaky third day, Scarrow’s total counted in the previous two days of the tournament. Scarrow ended the event tied for 38th place with a 222.
“It was a good way to start the season,” summarized Bermel.
Ahead for the Jayhawks lies at the Maui Jim Invitational, taking place from Sept. 22-24 at the Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Arizona.
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