Spencer leads Jayhawks in round one of the NCAA Stanford Regional
STANFORD, Calif. – Behind junior Andy Spencer’s even-par 70, the Kansas men’s golf team is tied for 10th after the opening round of the NCAA Stanford Regional at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, California, Monday.
Kansas is tied with Denver in the 13-team field after shooting a 288 (+8). With two rounds to play, the Jayhawks are looking to finish in the top five of the regional and advance to the NCAA Championship for the second straight year. Host Stanford leads the field after shooting a first round 274 (-6) and is one shot ahead of UNCG (-5). More importantly, Kansas is six shots from fifth place heading into Tuesday’s second round.
On the 70-degree day with winds hitting a mere nine miles per hour, KU’s upperclassmen took on the challenge to lead the team as they vie for a spot in the NCAA Championship. Spencer was able to card a team-best 70 (E) for his first round. Spencer utilized three birdies and the Jayhawks’ lone eagle on Monday. With his even-par round, Spencer sits tied for 22nd in the 75-player field, six strokes behind the tournament leader Jake Vincent (-6) of Southern Utah.
KU senior Charlie Hillier finished his first round just one stroke behind Spencer at 71 (+1). Much like Spencer, Charlie Hillier was able to birdie three of his 18 holes which included two on the back nine to help him finish 1-under (34) in those nine holes. He will enter the second round tied for 25th.
Finishing third on the Kansas leaderboard was sophomore Ben Sigel. He was able to record a team-high four birdies on the afternoon, which included three on the front nine to finish 2-under (33). After 18 holes, Sigel enters Tuesday two strokes behind Charlie Hillier< at 3-over (73) and is currently tied for 43rd.
Sophomore Harry Hillier and redshirt freshman Jeff Doty finished in a tie for fourth place on the KU squad at 4-over (74). Harry Hillier was consistent on both halves of the course, finishing 2-over on both the front and the back. Meanwhile, Doty was able to card two birdies on his afternoon. They both sit tied for 52nd entering round two.
The second round is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. (Central) on Tuesday.
Live scoring for the NCAA Regional is available here.
NOTABLES
*Andy Spencer carded the Jayhawks’ lone eagle of the day on hole 16.
*Spencer finished tied for second on the team with three birdies.
*Sophomore Ben Sigel carded a team-high four birdies.
*Senior Charlie Hillier tied Spencer with three birdies in his first round.
*Redshirt freshman Jeff Doty knocked in two birdies on the day.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jamie Berme
Q: What are your thoughts on the team’s performance?
A: “We just played a little sloppy today. We left some shots out there and really had no one make many putts.”
Q: What needs to happen moving forward to get up the leaderboard?
A: “This is a golf course where par is a very good score and we need to do a better job of taking care of the hard holes and taking advantage of the easier holes. There is still 36 holes left and a lot of golf to play.”
