Barbee and Koelbel Lead Kansas During Round Two at Desert Shootout

Sophomore Nate Barbee will vie for his fifth top-20 finish of the year in the final round on Saturday.

March 20, 2009

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -

Walt Koelbel and Nate Barbee both fired five-under par rounds to lead the Kansas Men’s Golf team during round two at the 2009 Desert Shootout.

The team fired its best round of the year with a nine-under 279 to move up two spots on the leaderboard to fourth place. The Jayhawks trails leader Denver, the host school, by 13 strokes entering the final round of play.

“I am very pleased with how we played today,” said head coach Kit Grove. “Walt and Nate both played very well for us and the team performed admirably as well.”

Barbee now has recorded 10 rounds of par or better on the year after firing back-to-back under par rounds at the Desert Shootout. Barbee will be attempt to tally his fifth top-20 finish of the year in Saturday’s final round.

Freshman Blake Giroux continued his solid play at the event with a second round 71 and is tied for 18th place entering the final round. Junior Bryan Hackenberg carded a 73 during day two and enters the final round tied for 64th. Freshman Ian Anson shot a 78 and is tied for 56th place.

Junior Patrick Roth, who is competing in the event as an individual, carded a second-round 70 and is tied for 56th place.

Coastal Carolina, Tulsa, and Kansas State join Denver and Kansas in the top-five among teams. Tom Whitney of Air Force is the top individual after two rounds with a score of 133.

The final round will begin with a 7:30 PST shotgun start. Check back to kuathletics.com for a complete recap and result from the 2009 Desert Shootout.

Team Leaderboard

1. Denver (271-277—548)

2. Coastal Carolina (278-277—555)

3. Tulsa (275-281—556)

4. Kansas (282-279—561)

5. Kansas State (287-276—563)

Individual Leaderboard

1. Tom Whitney, Air Force (64-69—133)

2. Sam Lyons, Costal Carolina (69-65—134)

3. Jeff Koprievetz, Denver (68-67—135)

4. Charlie Winegardner-I, Coastal Carolina (67-69—136)

T5. Nate Barbee, Kansas (70-67—137)

T5. Nicolas Geyger, Tulsa (64-73—137)

T5. Robert Streb, Kansas State (68-69—137)

T18. Blake Giroux, Kansas (69-71—140)

T36. Walt Koelbel, Kansas (76-67—143)

T56. Ian Anson, Kansas (69-78—147)

T56. Patrick Roth-I, Kansas (77-70—147)

T64. Bryan Hackenberg, Kansas (74-74—148)