Samnegard takes home individual title at Jayhawk No. 1

By Mike Pilosof

Manhattan, KS-It was a great start to the conference season for the Broncbuster men's golf team.

Garden City finished in second place with a team score of plus-59, coming in just three strokes behind No. 1 Hutchinson while freshman Adam Samnegard took home the individual title during the first Jayhawk Tournament of the season at Colbert Hills Golf Course.

"I was very proud of how Adam, Isaac and Phillip played," Head Coach Phil Terpstra said. "They handled the conditions better than most. It was definitely hard to stay focused for 36 holes."

Samnegard shot rounds of 79 and 73, finishing 7-over, two strokes better than Blake Mullen from Kansas City. And in the first round, he bounced back nicely after back-to-back double bogeys on two and three to birdie No. 4. But the back nine is where he steadied the ship, parring seven of the the nine holes and finishing 6-over. He added three more birdies in round two and shot a team-best 73.

"Congratulations to Adam for winning his first college tournament, especially since he was trailing the leader by nine strokes after the first round," Terpstra said. "He has been in position to win before, but it just hadn't happened yet."

Incredibly, Samengard, who was 4-over through his first three holes, finished plus-3 over the final 33.

Meantime Isaac MacNaughton and Philip Stjernlof tied for fifth at 12-over par. Stejernlof's best stretch of golf came in the opening round with a pair of birdies-one on seven and the other on 13. MacNaughton tallied consecutive 78's, tapping in for birdie on the par-5 seventh in the final round and dropping in another one on 12.

"There were a few pin placements where the wind would blow the golf ball 15 to 20 feet away from the pin after hitting a very good shot close," Terpstra explained.

Next up: Garden City at Jayhawk No. 2-Monday, April 12 (Crestview CC)