Sixth-place finish for KU at men's Big 12 Championship

TULSA, Okla. –Amidst cold and rain for the duration of Wednesday’s final round of the Big 12 Championship, the Kansas men’s golf team rose two spots up the leaderboard to end in sixth place.

While the rain poured down on the already-challenging Southern Hills Country Club course, the team’s fourth-round score of 7-over was tied for the best team total from Wednesday’s fourth round. The strong performance upped the team’s score to 46-over on the event.

“I thought we played pretty well (Wednesday),” said Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel. “The first three rounds weren’t so great, so we had to tighten up today. That’s a hard golf course, and we played so poorly the first and third rounds, but it was a good comeback and I’m glad to see that happen.”

Leading the Jayhawks was junior Charlie Hillier, whose bid at a Big 12 All-Tournament Team selection came up one stroke short. Hillier’s 2-over 72 on the final round contributed to his 7-over score on the event, which put him at a tie for 11th place. For the event, Hillier tied for the team lead with 11 birdies, which also was tied for 11th-most overall. The junior managed to rack up 44 pars over the span of the four rounds, which was the most on the team.

“He has finally matured his game,” said Bermel, of Hillier. “He doesn’t let the bad shots bother him, he’s learned to just keep grinding. He hit a lot of good shots, putted solid and managed his game real well. He played like the player he is.”

Also finishing in the top-20 was sophomore Andy Spencer, whose 10-over finish resulted in a tie for 18th. Spencer struggled out of the gates in the fourth round, as two bogeys and a double-bogey in his first four holes was not how the sophomore would have liked to begin. Despite the shaky start on the first nine, Spencer gained his composure on his final nine holes as he walked away with eight pars and a birdie to bring his round-total to a 4-over 74. This performance marks the team-best ninth time this season where the sophomore has finished inside of the top-20.

Two strokes behind Spencer was freshman Harry Hillier, who ended his first-career Big 12 Championship performance tied for 23rd place at 12-over. Harry Hillier tied his brother with 11 birdies for the event, four of which were recorded during his fourth-round. His 1-over 71 was the best score on the team Wednesday, and allowed the freshman to rise 10 spots up the leaderboard.

The senior tandem of Daniel Hudson and Daniel Sutton both finished the round with a 2-over 72, which ended Hudson in 43rd place and Sutton in 44th place. While the previous rounds proved challenging for the senior duo, a strong-fourth round showing was integral to the Jayhawks’ shift up the leaderboard. 

“Our seniors played well,” said Bermel. “Both of them made shots (Wednesday) and put together a good round, and that’s what we were looking for all week. Unfortunately they didn’t have it the first three rounds, but credit to both of them; they came back and fought hard and helped us move up a few spots.”

With the sixth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship, the Jayhawks will now have to wait until May 2, when they find out where they’ll play next for the NCAA Regionals. Golf Central will show the team’s seedings, as 81 teams and 45 individuals will be selected to Regionals, which take place May 14-16. 

“What we saw the past few days is going to be the type of field that you get in Regionals,” explained Bermel. “You need to figure out how to beat some really good teams. If we can tighten up our game, it’ll be exciting to see how it plays out.”

FOLLOW@KUMensGolf
/Kansasmensgolf
@kumensgolf

 KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.sidebar.txt Displaying sidebar.txt.