Jayhawks in mix despite slow start

PALM DESERT, Calif. – Entering the club house as the only Kansas golfer under par, sophomore Charlie Hillier found success at The Classic Club, leading the Jayhawks who now sit tied for fifth place after day one of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.

Looking to have the same type of success as last year finishing tied for third, Hillier finished the day with a three-under-par, 69. Despite an early bogey, it would be his only one of the round as Hillier was able to keep his composure and respond with four birdies on the day. Hillier’s nearly mistake-free round placed him tied for second on the leaderboard, just two strokes back from the individual leader, Oregon’s Norman Xiong (No. 4 Golfweek). 

“Charlie had a solid day,” head coach Jamie Bermel said. “Didn’t do anything great, but just hung in there and made a lot of solid pars.”

With only one major hiccup on his card in the form of a double-bogey, junior Daniel Hudson finished the day with a 74. Managing to counter his two bogeys with two birdies, Hudson’s two-over-par finish earned him a tied for 28^th place on the leaderboard.

Unable to slip into his normal groove, senior Chase Hanna finished the day with a three-over-par, 75. Hanna saw struggles early, posting a bogey on holes two and three, followed by another on the par-three sixth. More problems faced Hanna when he followed his first birdie of the day with a double bogey. Keeping his cool, Hanna birdied two of the last three holes and now finds himself tied for 41^st place.  

Freshman Andy Spencer found himself high on the leaderboard for most of the day, starting off strong with a birdie on the second hole. Sitting at one-under-par through ten, Spencer began to run into problems, posting a bogey on the par-four eleventh, followed by three bogeys in a row late in his round. Spencer is now tied for 41^st place after finishing the day with a three-over-par, 75.

Junior Daniel Sutton could not seem to find his way, finishing the day tied for 57^th after a four-over-par, 76. Despite four birdies on the day, it was not enough to overcome playing seven different holes over par.

Continuing to get some tournament experience, junior Jake Scarrow played as an individual finishing the day with a eight-over-par, 80.

“Windy conditions today and that is something we see quite often in the spring in Kansas, but a couple of guys made some costly doubles,” Bermel said. “Overall, very pleased with the first round of the spring. I think we can improve each round. The weather looks a little better for the next two days.”

Finishing day one at five-over-par, Kansas is only one stroke behind No. 6 Texas Tech who is in fourth place and two strokes behind No. 21 Colorado who is in third. No. 16 Oregon leads the tournament as the only team to break even, with a six-under-par finish to the first round. Kansas is tied for fifth with CSU – Fullerton and is four strokes in front of the next closest team, Wyoming.

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