The Kansas men’s golf team’s program-record string of consecutive NCAA regional appearances continued on Wednesday when the Jayhawks earned a spot as a No. 7 seed in the Athens Regional.
KU will begin play on May 18 at the University of Georgia Golf Course in what will be its 10th straight regional under 14th-year head coach Jamie Bermel.
The best five teams out of the 13-team Athens Regional, as well as the top individual on a non-advancing team, will progress to the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, which begins on May 29.
The Jayhawks, who rank No. 37 nationally, have not finished worse than fifth in an event this calendar year, with their best performance coming at the Hoosier Collegiate in late April. KU won that event by a three-stroke margin, led by senior Luke Honner, a former South Dakota State transfer who shot 1-over and finished in a three-way tie for second place.
For much of the season, senior Will King and junior Will Baker, a Clemson transfer, have been among KU’s most consistent performers, although a number of Jayhawks were clustered together closely in per-round average during the regular season: King (70.8), UC Riverside transfer sophomore Hartej Grewal (71.0), Baker (71.2), French freshman Arthur Carlier (71.3), sophomore Ty Lasley (71.8) and Honner (71.9).
KU finished fifth in the Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club in by shooting 10-over as a team, highlighted by a 12-under third round that was one of the best by any team in conference history. The Jayhawks were led in that tournament by King, who shot 4-under overall and tied for fourth place.
KU may need to continue that high level of play from Hutchinson in order to advance past the Athens Regional, which also includes, in seeding order, Auburn, Illinois, Vanderbilt, BYU, host Georgia, Louisville, Northwestern, Charleston, Rice, Southern Miss, Harvard and Howard. Last year, KU finished 10th in regional play in Bremerton, Washington, a performance that prompted Bermel to declare that “the buck stops with me and we were not ready to play this week” and the team “looked worn down and not focused.”
The Jayhawks will now look to return to NCAA nationals for the first time since 2022.
