Postseason tracker: KU men’s golf plays 8th-straight NCAA regional, tying program record
LAWRENCE — No stranger to postseason play, Kansas men’s golf competed this week in its eight-straight NCAA regional.
Led by head coach Jamie Bermel, the Jayhawks tied a program record with this streak. This year, they were the No. 11 seed in a 14-team event that they played Monday through Wednesday at the Rancho Santa Fe Regional in California. If Kansas finished as one of the top five teams, it would advance to the NCAA championship event that starts up later this month.
“We were outside of the number going into conference, and even going into the last round,” Bermel said in a KU release prior to the NCAA regional. “We were the last regional (revealed) and one of the last two teams picked, but all you have to do is get in. The guys were fired up when our name was announced and now it's time to get to work. It is the expectation at KU that we play golf in May. Hats off to the guys, we had a pretty good year, but the best is yet to come.”
The seeds in this regional were No. 1 Arizona State, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 California, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 North Florida, No. 7 Chattanooga, No. 8 South Florida, No. 9 San Diego, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 11 Kansas, No. 12 Wright State, No. 13 Seton Hall and No. 14 Winthrop. Two names to know for the Jayhawks this season were sophomore Will King and senior Cecil Belisle.
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Here is what happened as Kansas attempted to advance:
Kansas finishes opening day 11th as team
Kansas shot +17 as a team to place 11th in the 14-team regional on day one. The Jayhawks are just outside of the top 10 behind Chattanooga, which shot +14. The regional leader so far is North Florida at -3.
“We struggled to get a few good scores and we’re behind the 8 ball but we still have two more days of golf,” Bermel said in a KU release following the first round. “When your best players aren’t your best for the day, we struggle.”
Kansas finishes second day 11th as team
Kansas shot +18 as a team in the 14-team regional on the second day, to reach +35 for the event overall. The Jayhawks remain outside of the top 10 behind Chattanooga, which is now at +22 for the event. The regional leader is still North Florida, which is at +3 for the event.
“We got off to a nice start today but struggled the last few holes of our first nine,” Bermel said in a KU release following the second round. “We really struggled on the last nine holes. This golf course will test every part of your game, and certainly your patience.”
Kansas ends season with 11th-place finish
Kansas shot +8 as a team in the 14-team regional on the third day, to reach +43 for the event overall. That saw the Jayhawks finish 11th and outside of the top 10, behind a Chattanooga team that finished at +28. Oklahoma won the regional at -3.
“It was a disappointing end to the season,” Bermel said in a KU release following the third round. “We just didn’t produce this week but there are some positives to take away. We have three guys coming back next year so hopefully they learn from this and we’ll be better next year.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU men’s golf plays 8th-straight NCAA regional, tying program record
