Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoAs Kevin Ward and Gary Woodland led a trio of golf carts from the 17th green to the clubhouse Thursday afternoon at Alvamar, it was quite obvious the Kansas University golfers had won their match and advanced to today’s quarterfinals of the Kansas Golf Assn. Fourball Championships.
The three carts contained the third-seeded KU duo, family members and about a half-dozen female friends. All were laughing and smiling as their carts coasted to a stop in the shade.
It looked like a parade of champions, only there was no title to celebrate — not yet anyway. The only cause for celebration was that the pair survived a staunch challenge from two of their KU teammates.
Ward and Woodland beat fellow Jayhawks Tyler Docking and Barrett Martens and advanced to today’s quarterfinals in dramatic fashion. They earned one-stroke victories on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to finally put their fellow Jayhawks to rest in what had been a heated match all afternoon.
“This was good competition,” Ward said. “I actually lost to Tyler Docking two years ago, so it’s good to beat him.
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo“We played good, and they played pretty good. We just had a couple of bad holes, and they won (Nos.) 8, 9 and 10. They were holes that we should’ve birdied, but we didn’t.”
Docking and Martens, both KU sophomores-to-be, did their best to topple Ward again, but the senior-to-be’s drive within a foot of the hole on No. 16 allowed he and Woodland to pull away late. The pair will face the sixth-seeded duo of John Newcomer and Robert Rice at 8 this morning.
They aren’t the only Jayhawks playing in today’s third round, however.
Fourth-seeded juniors-to-be Jason Sigler and Luke Trammell cruised into today’s match against No. 21-seed Jeff Spradlin and Matt Schall (at 7:40 a.m.) by capitalizing on the home turf advantage at Alvamar — KU’s home course. They needed 17 holes to dispose of Travis Holt and Patrick Roth in the first round before blowing away John Loomis and Steve Priest in round two.
Exactly how good were Sigler and Trammell? Try 9 under after 13 holes. Try back-to-back birdies and an eagle on No. 11. They were flat-out on.
“It was pretty sick for a while,” Trammell laughed. “We just kept ham-and-egging it, and it was a lot of fun.”
“Fun” only begins to describe what Thursday’s round meant to Sigler and Trammell, though. It also symbolized relief and redemption. This is the third straight year the pair has played together in the Fourball Championships, and it’s the first time they haven’t been booted early.
They failed to qualify for match play last year and were ousted in the first round in 2002.
“We kind of got the monkey off our back,” Sigler said. “If you would’ve told me we’d have done this earlier in the day, I wouldn’t have believed it. But we’ll take it and go with it. It was fun.”
Former KU golfers Jay Hepler and Tyler Shelton will face Andy Emerson and Aaron AuBuchon in a 7:30 a.m. quarterfinal match. Defending champions Matt Lowe and Jimmy Saporito will tee off at 7:50 a.m. against ex-Jayhawks John Ogden and Chris Hutchens in the other quarterfinal.
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