The Kansas men’s golf team climbed up the leaderboard Tuesday at the Big 12 Championship, and has given itself an outside shot at finishing in the top half of the tournament at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson.
As play finished on Tuesday, the Jayhawks sat in sixth place in the 10-team tournament after three rounds of competition. The KU team shot its best score of the tournament, and moved up two spaces in the team standings, having been in eighth place after play concluded on Monday.
The Jayhawks are at 32-over par heading into the fourth and final round on Wednesday. They’ll have their work cut out for them to crack the top five of the tournament, with TCU sitting in fifth place with a team score of 18 over par.
A much closer competition involves bragging rights in the state. KU enters the final round one spot ahead of Kansas State. The Wildcats are seven strokes behind the Jayhawks.
Kansas State is ranked 24th nationally in the collegiate golf world, but the Jayhawks have tied or bettered the Wildcats in all three rounds of the championship. KU also is ahead of 31st-ranked Baylor, which is tied with KSU for seventh. KU came into the tournament ranked outside of the top 50 in the college golf rankings.
KU thus far has been led by junior William Duquette, who is tied for 16th in the tournament. But Duquette struggled a bit in round three, carding a 4-over par 74, and fell eight spots in the tournament.
But Will King, a freshman from Rockhurst High in Kansas City, made a charge for the Jayhawks. He was Kansas’ top scorer with a 2-under 68. He’s now in a tie for 26th in the tournament.
Oklahoma leads the tournament, and is in a commanding position to win the title. The Sooners are 2-under par for the tournament, and hold an 11-stroke lead over second-place Texas Tech. Oklahoma, however, did give the Red Raiders a glimmer of hope. The Sooners shot their worst round of the tournament on Tuesday, finishing at 4-over par in round three.
Texas is in third with a team score of 12-over par, and Oklahoma State is in fourth at 16-over par.
In the individual standings, all five of KU’s golfers are in the top 30 of the tournament. In addition to Duquette and King, Cecil Belisle in tied for 26th; Gunnar Broin is tied for 28th; and Davis Cooper is tied for 30th.
Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg leads the tournament at 14-under par. He carded a 63 at Prairie Dunes on Tuesday. Oklahoma State’s Jonas Baumgartner is next at 7-under par.
Final round action takes place on Wednesday.
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The Kansas women’s golf team finished Big 12 Championship play on Sunday in Dallas with a eight-place finish and had an individual golfer earn all tournament honors for the first time since 2017.
KU graduate senior Esme Hamilton shot an even-par 72 in the final round and tied for ninth, which earned her all tournament honors at the Dallas Athletic Club on Sunday. Hamilton became the 10th player in program history to be named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team.
As team, KU finished eighth in the nine-team tournament. The Jayhawks finished 12-over par. Oklahoma State won the tournament at 4-over par. KU finished 19 shots ahead of ninth-place Kansas State.
The tournament field was staked with ranked team. Seven of the nine teams were ranked in the top 50 nationally. KU is hoping the tournament showing was enough to extend their season. On Wednesday, the NCAA will select 72 teams to advance to regional tournaments with a chance to compete for a national championship. KU finished the regular season ranked No. 50 in the country in the Golfstat rankings. If selected, it will be just the third time — and first since 2014 — that the KU women have the made the NCAA field.
