Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoPlaying their best when they needed it, Ron Brewer and Len Johnsen Jr. jumped into second place in the second round of stroke play at the Kansas Golf Assn. Four-Ball Championship Wednesday at Alvamar.
Johnsen, from Overland Park, eagled the team’s next-to-last hole, the par-5 No. 8, and parred the ninth hole to finish with a total of 134 in two qualifying rounds.
The duo’s 66, the day’s best round, put Brewer and Johnsen ahead of first round co-leaders and Kansas University golfers Jason deBuhr and Andrew Stewart.
deBuhr and Stewart shot a 3-under-par 69 Wednesday, for a two-day total of 135, a stroke behind Tuesday’s co-leader Wichita State University’s Jason Novascone and Nick Underwood.
“All in all I think we’re satisfied, making match play in pretty good position,” deBuhr said before Brewer and Johnsen’s round had finished.
Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoThe KU golfers shot an even 36 on the front nine and a 3-under 33 on the back. Their only bogey came on the par-four ninth hole and they finished strong, scoring birdies on two of their final four holes.
“We didn’t play as well as we played yesterday,” deBuhr said. “On the front side we shot even and that’s usually the easier of the two nines. We would have liked to be at least 2-under, but we were even so we’re kind of disappointed with that. But then 33 on the back’s pretty good.”
Novascone and Underwood also played even on the front nine but shot 4-under on the back nine to move ahead of the Jayhawk pair. deBuhr said the change from Tuesday and Wednesday’s stroke play to match play for the rest of the tournament wasn’t a concern and wouldn’t cause the team to make any major changes.
“We’ll maybe get a little more aggressive,” he said. “It depends on the conditions and who we’re playing, but I think it’s important to get off to good starts in match play more than stroke play. We know the course. If we hit the shots we’ll be fine.”
Lawrence’s Stewart Platz and teammate Dan Eulitt, shot a 76 and finished with a total of 148, placing them two strokes out of qualifying.
The second round’s biggest improvement was by Zachary and Ralph Blevins, who shot a 74 following Tuesday’s 83.
Stan Stewart and Tracy Clites shot a 70, seven strokes better than Tuesday, but missed the cut by one stroke.
Joe Heenan and Mark Courington shot a 76 after Tuesday’s 70 and ended up in the 32nd and final qualifying spot for match play. They face Brewer and Johnsen at 7:30 a.m. today in the first grouping.
The final tee time for the first round of match play is at 10 a.m. and the round of 16 will be in the afternoon.
