Foth and Jayhawks Return to Herb Wimberly
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Sophomore Jackson Foth and the Kansas men’s golf team will return to the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate at the New Mexico State University Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M., for the fifth consecutive year, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 21-22.
Foth looks to build off last year’s performance at the Herb Wimberly where he finished in 15th, carding a one-over 214, while also shooting a season-low 70 during the second round of the tournament.
“I need to keep my confidence up,” Foth said. “This was my breakthrough tournament last year. I know the course, I know I can play well on it and I think that is going to be the big key for me this week.”
Last season Foth played in five of 12 tournaments for the Jayhawks, and thus far this season Foth is appearing in his fourth tournament of the year. With all signs surely pointing toward Foth passing last year’s mark he credits his new attitude of the game as being a big factor in his improvement.
“I hate not playing, I’ve always wanted to get out there and compete,” Foth said. “I think I can one day be a leader of this team. The biggest difference between last year and this year is I’ve been going out there and trying to have more fun and not been so worried as results. When I go out there and play by myself, I play really well. So I need to take that mindset and bring it to the tournaments. I need to start knowing that I’m going to play well as opposed to hoping to play well.”
With the fall season passing the halfway mark, the Jayhawks are in-store for a very busy week with as they will be competing in their second tournament in 10 days at the Herb Wimberly which will be followed by another tourney Oct. 25-26 in El Paso, Texas. With all the golf that lays ahead, Foth feels he knows what the team needs to do to stay competitive through each round.
“We need to get that fourth score down,” Foth said. “The biggest thing for each team is that fourth score. If we can get it down to one or two-over, somewhere around even (par) on this course I think we will be in good shape. We have to get our confidence up and know we can play with anybody, because we can. We haven’t quite broken through yet, everyone has just played okay. One low round and we can do it. I feel it’s going to happen at this tournament.”
A confident Foth will be leading the Jayhawk squad alongside junior Logan Philley, sophomore Ben Welle and freshman Chase Hanna all of which will be participating in their fourth-straight tournament. Rounding out the Kansas team is junior Stan Gautier, who will be competing in his third event of the season. The Jayhawks will also send sophomore Connor Peck to Las Cruces as an individual player.
The Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate will be played on a 7,074-yard, par-71 course at the New Mexico State University Golf Course. The 17-team field, hosted by New Mexico State, includes Kansas, Air Force, Arizona, Colorado State, Nebraska, Nevada, Northern Colorado, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston State, Texas State, UC Riverside, UMKC, UT Arlington, UTEP, UTSA, and Wichita State. The tournament will start with 36-holes on Monday Oct. 21, and conclude with 18-holes on Tuesday Oct. 22.
Kansas at Herb Wimberly (last four years):
Year Team Top Kansas Finisher
2012-13 5th Chris Gilbert – T1st
2011-12 5th Alex Gutesha – 8th
2010-11 1st Alex Gutesha – 12th
2009-10 11th Nate Barbee – 4th
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