Hot Start Continues for Kansas After Day One of Desert Intercollegiate

First Round Results

PALM DESERT, Calif. – In an effort that features four different Jayhawks in the top-20, the Kansas men’s golf team finds itself sitting atop of the leaderboard after Friday’s opening round of the Desert Intercollegiate at Classic Club. Heading into the second of three rounds on Saturday, the Jayhawks will look to maintain their three stroke lead over Big 12 foe TCU.

“We played a real solid round of golf today on a difficult course,” Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel said. “Daniel Hudson and Charlie Hillier really played well, while Connor Peck and Chase Hanna helped also.”

The Jayhawks were led by their core of young talent in sophomore Hudson and freshman Hillier. The two underclassman each shot a first-round score of 2-under, 70, and are currently tied for sixth-place in the 116-golfer field. TCU’s Sarosh Adi leads the tournament after shooting a 5-under 67 Friday. He is one shot ahead of three other golfers with Hudson and Hillier three shots from the lead.

Hudson and Hillier each recorded six birdies for their first round, which were the most in the tourney field. As a team, Kansas also sits atop of the rest of the 20 teams with 20 birdies recorded in the first round. The Jayhawks are the only team under par having shot a 285 on the par-72 Classic Club course. TCU (288) is in second at even par while Colorado is third at 289 (+1).

Behind Hudson and Hillier is senior Peck finishing the day tied for 12^th. The consistent play the veteran has displayed all season long showed again in the opening round of the event, as Peck shot an even-par 72, which is just below his season average of 72.33.

Hanna is currently one stroke behind Peck, after shooting a 73 (+1) on Friday. The junior had a strong front-nine, where he shot a two-under, 34. Heading into the second round, Hanna will look to jump up the leaderboard and improve his standing, where sits tied for 19^th.

The final representative of the Jayhawks is senior Ben Welle, who shot an opening round score of 76 (+4). After struggling Friday, Kansas’ leader in average strokes per round will look to bounce back and climb up the leaderboard, where currently sits tied for 50^th.

Participating as an individual is sophomore Brock Drogosch, where he is tied for 37^th. Competing in only his second event of the season, Drogosch converted on 12 pars throughout the day and walked off the course with a 75 (+3).

“There are still 36 more holes and a lot can happen, but I’m excited about our start and hopefully we can do better the next two days,” Bermel said.

The second round of the Desert Intercollegiate will be held on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Classic Club. For live stats and scoring, be sure to follow the Jayhawks on golfstat.com.

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