🏌️♂️ King in Top 5, Kansas T8 After First Day of Big 12 Championship
TRINITY, Texas – The Kansas men’s golf team shot rounds of 298 (+10) and 290 (+2) and sit in a three-way tie for eighth place after 36 holes of the Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship, hosted at Whispering Pines Golf Club. Sophomore Will King fired off a four-under round of 68 Monday afternoon and sits T5 at -1.
The three-day, 72-hole tournament kicked off with 36 holes on Monday. BYU leads the 14-team conference championship at -1, followed by Texas (E), Oklahoma State (+3), Baylor (+5), Oklahoma (+6) and Houston (+6) to round out the top six of the leaderboard.
The Jayhawks were paced by King, who got off to a shaky start to open the tournament shooting a three-over round of 75. King bounced back for Kansas and fired off a four-under 68 in the second round, totaling six birdies and allowing just two bogeys on his scorecard. King birdied holes 17 and 18 to move him to -1 for the tournament and in a tie for fifth. King was one of just two golfers to shoot a 68 in the second round, joining Texas Tech’s Charles DeLong for the low score of the afternoon.
“That was a grind today,” said Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel after the opening two rounds. “We really came back nicely in the second round and made four birdies on the last two holes. Cecil (Belisle) made two really good up and downs as well to help us to a strong finish.”
The senior duo of Gunnar Broin and Cecil Belisle share a tie of 39th, both +5 for the event. Despite opening his day with a 78 (+6), Broin birdied the last two holes of his second round to cap off a one-under round of 71 and totaled five birdies on his scorecard in Monday’s second round. Belisle shot rounds of 74 (+2) and 75 (+3) to open the championship. Belisle carded three birdies in the first round and added one in the second.
Senior Davis Cooper posted rounds of 75 and 76, carding one birdie in the first and four in the second round. Cooper is +7 for the event and tied for 48th.
On just the third hole of his conference championship debut, freshman Max Jelinek holed out for an eagle out of the rough on the Par 5 12th hole. Jelinek went on to post an opening round of 74 and followed that up with an 80 in the second. Jelinek is T62 at +10.
“It was a total team effort today, but we need to clean some things up for the last 36 holes,” Bermel added. “Will had a really nice day and Gunnar had a good bounce back round for the second round.”
CURRENT STANDINGS
T5. King, -1
T39. Broin, +5
T39. Belisle, +5
T48. Cooper, +7
T62. Jelinek, +10
UP NEXT
Kansas will tee it up for the third round on Tuesday, April 23 at 8:20 a.m. CT and be paired with West Virginia and Iowa State. Live scoring for the Big 12 Championship can be found on Golfstat, while fans can also follow with live updates throughout the round from the official Kansas Men’s Golf Twitter (X) account. Wednesday’s final round will include live coverage via Big 12 Now on ESPN+ from 12:30-4:30 p.m. CT with Ryan Burr and Suzy Whaley providing commentary.
