Men's golf opens spring season with title defense
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Coming off of a fall season highlighted by two team victories, head coach Jamie Bermel will lead Kansas men’s golf to Palm Desert, California, to compete in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate for its first event of the spring season. Taking place at Classic Club, the Jayhawks will defend their title as the team won the Desert Intercollegiate last spring.
“Very excited to get the spring season started,” Bermel said. “I think the guys are ready to compete and play in some tournaments. Obviously, we have some good memories from Classic Club last year.”
Senior Chase Hanna will continue his streak of playing in every tournament as a Jayhawk, and will look to use his experience to lead Kansas to be crowned back-to-back champs. Hanna comes off of a fall season featuring his first-career victory, accompanied by four additional top-15 finishes. Along with his victory, Hanna set a school record with a 10-under-par 61 at the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic on November 5. Hanna led the squad with a more than one-under-par scoring average of 70.17.
Joining Hanna at Classic Club, will be familiar faces in the likes of junior Daniel Hudson and sophomore Charlie Hillier. The two were part of the Desert Intercollegiate title in 2016, with Hillier finishing tied for third place and Hudson finishing tied for fifth. Hillier comes off of a successful fall season where he made significant contributions to the team, as 17 of his 18 rounds were counted toward the team total. Hudson also played in all six tournaments of the fall season, racking up two finishes inside the top-20.
Junior transfer Daniel Sutton will continue to see time on the course after playing in the last five events for Kansas. Sutton averaged just under par for the fall season, playing 10 of his 15 rounds at even par or better. A fourth-place finish at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in late September led Kansas to its first victory of the fall campaign.
Freshman Andy Spencer will round out the Kansas squad, playing in his third event in his short time at Kansas.
Sophomore transfer Jake Scarrow will get a chance to continue to hone his skills in competition, as he will play as an individual. Scarrow competed in four-of-six events in the fall season, managing to finish fourth at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic.
Hosted by Wyoming, Kansas will be accompanied by a field highlighted by No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 16 Oregon, and No. 21 Colorado, according to Golfweek. Oregon is led by two top-five golfers in Wyndham Clark (No. 2) and Norman Xiong (No. 4).
Nebraska, Gonzaga, Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside, TCU, University of Denver, Arkansas Little Rock, South Dakota State, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Fresno State, University of Texas-Arlington, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Oral Roberts, Cal State Fullerton, and Loyola Marymount will round out the 22 team field.
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