HOUSTON – The No. 7-seeded Kansas men’s golf team upset No. 2-seeded Oklahoma State Tuesday morning at Big 12 Match Play, winning Pool B before falling to BYU in the semifinal matchup at The Clubs at Houston Oaks.

The Jayhawks, who have compiled a 2-1-1 match record, will face off against top-seeded Arizona State Wednesday morning at 7:45 a.m. CT for the third-place match.

“Wild day of golf. The match we had this morning was epic. Gunnar needed to win his match for us to beat Oklahoma State. He was down 1 with three holes to go. Made a good par to get back to even. His opponent hit his 2nd shot on the 17th hole to a foot. Gunnar hit his to 30 feet and made the putt. He proceeded to the last hole and it was 189 yards. He hit 8 iron to a foot, won his match and we beat OSU.Semi-final match we were not as sharp. When we get in that position we need to be razor sharp and we were not. Give BYU credit, they were better than us this afternoon. Another big match on Wednesday. Arizona State is a good team and it will be a big task! I know our guys will be ready!” – Kansas Head Coach Jamie Bermel

Match One: Kansas Defeats #2 Oklahoma State 3-2 to Win Pool B

Kansas opened the second day of Big 12 Match Play against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Both teams stood at the top of Pool B heading into Tuesday’s match, with the winner taking first place. Kansas used a big performance from their veterans to push past the second-seeded Cowboys and take the Pool B crown.

Sophomore Max Jelinek was the dominant Jayhawk Tuesday morning, toppling OSU’s Brady Catalano 6&5. Jelinek ended the match on the 13th hole, without dropping a hole to Catalano in the process. 

Junior Will King started his match with Eric Lee out hot, winning the first two holes and never looked back. King used clutch holes later in the match, such as a score of two on the 15th hole, and to notch the second Jayhawk victory over the Cowboys. 

The third and most crucial Jayhawk victory came from the veteran, graduate senior Gunnar Broin. Broin controlled most of the match, but Ethan Fang of the Cowboys put together a late run to grab a one-up lead with just three holes left. Broin proceeded to storm back, winning the 16th and 18th holes of the match to earn the third and most important victory of the tournament for the Jayhawks, earning them first place in Pool B and a spot in the semi-finals against BYU in the Tuesday afternoon session.

Match Two: Kansas Falls to #6 BYU 3-1-1

Kansas, after winning their pool in the morning, earned the chance to take on the winner of Pool C, the BYU Cougars. BYU came into Tuesday afternoon winning all three matches of the tournament, with a +26 hole differential.

Kansas used another great performance from King, who topped Cole Ponich by a final score of 5&4. King used a hot start once again, winning three of his first four holes, and was able to close out Ponich on the 14th hole of the match.

Despite several good efforts, King would be the only Jayhawk to tally a win Tuesday afternoon. Luke Honner ended his match in a tie with Peter Kim, resulting in each team taking a point away from the match.

Sophomore Noah Holtzman, along with Jelinek and Broin put up valiant efforts in their respective matches with the Cougars, but sixth-seeded BYU was able to pull away and advance to the championship match against #13 Baylor on Wednesday morning. 

UP NEXT

Kansas will take on the top-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils in the third-place match on Wednesday morning. Fans can follow the Kansas Men’s Golf X Account and Golfstat for updates throughout Wednesday’s matches.