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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MEN'S GOLF
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30. 2009
Barbee places first, team ties for second
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Freshman Alex Gutesha hits a put on the green Monday evening during the Kansas Invitational tournament. Kansas tied with Missouri and Louisiana-Lafayette for second place.
BY ANDREW WITUSZYNSKI
awituszynski@kansan.com
"I guess it's good."
After day one at the Kansas Invitational, Nate Barbee, Dakota Dunes, S.D., junior was tied for second place individually. On Tuesday, Barbee chalked up a 68 and took home the first place trophy. Barbee won the tournament with a three-round total score of 211. The second-place finisher scored 214.
That was all Barbee had to say, standing there with a first place trophy in his hands and taking pictures with his family, who had traveled from South Dakota to be in Lawrence for the tournament.
Barbee said his lack of excitement was because he wished the team would have won the tournament overall.
"It's disappointing that we didn't pull this one off as a team," Barbee said. "Especially when we were so close."
Kansas finished in a three-way tie for second place with Missouri and Louisiana-Lafayette. Each team scored a total of 888 strokes. Oklahoma won with 868 strokes.
"It was a real heartbreaker to come that close and not win," coach Kit Grove said. "The 81 that we had to take yesterday really killed us."
Grove's Jayhawks have started off the season by finishing in third place in their first tournament and now back-to-back second place finishes.
"This is the best start we've had since I've been here," Grove said. "I'm also really happy for Nate. He's been so close lately and has been getting frustrated; now he finally got a win."
Assistant coach John Handrigan also said he was happy for Barbee.
"It was great for him to get his first win. Now that he has one under his belt, the floodgates are going to open for him," Handrigan said.
Barbee's victory can be attributed to his hard work ethic. After the 36 holes on Monday, Barbee was the only player to stay and practice his putting. Everyone else went home because it was dark and they had already played 36 holes,
but not Barbee.
"It's no fluke that Barbee won this tournament," Grove said. "There is always a silver Equinox in the parking lot with South Dakota plates. It might be bad advertising for Chevrolet because people are going to think the car is broken down because it's there so much."
In a college golf tournament,
every coach gets to walk the course
with one player. In the first few
tournaments Grove has been walking with one of the freshmen, but Grove chose to walk with Barbee on Tuesday.
"It's tough to be out there alone for five hours when you're in contention for winning a tournament. I just tried to keep him loose and it's always nice to have another voice out there."
Coach Handrigan said he felt like Grove walking with Barbee
Barbee, still focused on the team's play, said he was looking forward to the rest of the season.
helped him stay focused.
"We didn't get first, but we've started off well this year," Barbee said. "We didn't even play that well and we still only lost by two strokes. That shows that we can play with some really good teams."
Edited by Sarah Kelly
NFL
Six teams, zero victories but worth second look
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI — Let's start at the bottom.
To recap: The Bucs' backup QB led them in rushing, the Titans' final 13 passes fell incomplete and the Dolphins again disproved the value of ball control. The Browns couldn't stop the run, the Chiefs couldn't stop the pass and the Rams couldn't stop a losing streak that's now the NFL's longest.
Although the Lions finally won Sunday, there was still plenty of bad football around the league.
Seven NFL cities are hogging the spotlight thanks to 3-0 starts. But for those with a strong stomach, the 0-3 teams deserve a closer look.
There are six — the Browns, Rams, Chiefs, Dolphins, Titans and Buccaneers — a game behind the Lions. When's the last time any team could say that?
"When you lose three games in a row, finger-pointing starts and you're saying, 'Why isn't this working?'" Bucs linebacker Barrett Rudd said.
And when you start 0-3, your playoff chances dwindle. Since 1990, only three teams have made the postseason after losing their first three games.
The most surprising cellardwellers are the Dolphins and Titans, both division champions in 2008. In each case, the decline has been a team effort.
Against the Jets on Sunday, Tennessee's Kerry Collins missified on his final 13 attempts, but he couldn't do it alone. Teammates dropped five passes in the second half.
The Titans had the NFL's best record last year at 13-3, but since their undefeated start in 2008 ended Nov. 23 against the New York Jets, they're 3-7. The losses this year have been by a total of 13 points.
"One play could make the difference in each game," defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch said. "It couldn't be a finer line."
"You have to chip away at it," Cleveland coach Eric Mangini
said. "There's no 20-point touchdown."
With 20-point touchdowns, Mangini's crew would really be in trouble. As it is, the Browns have been outscoored 95-29.
The Browns' 218-yard average — that's total offense — is last in the league, as is their minus-7 turnover differential. And they've been outgained by 584 yards.
Derek Anderson came on and threw three interceptions in the second half.
But hats off to Robert Royal, who has scored Cleveland's lone offensive touchdown in the past nine games. It came during garbage time in the season opener.
The Rams have a new coach, a new general manager and the same crummy team. They're 5-30 since 2007 and getting worse.
"Anything and everything that we want to accomplish this year is still in front of us," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. That could include securing the No. 2 draft pick for the third year in a row.
The Chiefs have lost 26 of their past 28 games, and that doesn't count an 0-4 preseason. New QB Matt Cassel has failed to revive the offense, which is 7 for 36 on third-down conversions and not great on first or second down, either.
Other winless teams are facing quarterback issues. Josh Johnson was awarded the Bucs' starting job this week after coming off the bench in Sunday's 24-0 loss to the Giants to lead the team in rushing with 15 yards.
The Redskins have been so bad the home crowd booed even when they beat St. Louis. Washington has struggled against a weak schedule, scoring only 40 points in three games. Coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat, and he might join the jeering if his team loses Sunday to Tampa Bay.
At the moment, a lot of teams would settle for one win. But hang in there, Dolphins, Titans, Browns, Chiefs, Bucs and Rams — a lot of bad football remains to be played.
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WOMEN'S GOLF
Powers leads,but KU places sixth
BY ANDREW WITUSZYNSKI
awituszynski@kansan.com
The women's golf team earned its second straight top 10 finish at Colbert Hills Tuesday in Manhattan. Kansas came in sixth place overall, led by Emily Powers, who shot a 73 on Tuesday to grab seventh place individually.
Kansas recorded a total of 954 strokes in the three rounds. Tulsa won the tournament with a three-day total score of 901. Arkansas came in second, and host of the tournament, Kansas State, placed third.
"It was really cold and windy and I thought we did well to hold up," Powers said.
"We would've liked to place better," Powers said.
In a prepared statement, coach Erin O'Neil said, "We never really got anything going during the tournament." The one bright spot for the Jayhawks in this event was Powers.
"Emily played well and had a good finish. On Monday afternoon we gave away a lot of shots on the last three holes and didn't finish like we wanted to," O'Neil said in the statement.
The team said it was looking forward to next week, where it will compete in the Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo., on Oct 5.
"We will regroup this week and work on our short games and get ready for Missouri."
Edited by Jacob Muselmann
785. 838.3200 9th & Iowa
www.lenahaneyedoc.com
Double "U" showdown
A relief of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is seen above Egyptian soldiers wearing colorful suit behind an Under-20 World Cup soccer match. Uruguay won 3-0 against Uzbekistan at the Ismailia Sports Stadium, in Ismailia, Egypt, on Tuesday, and will advance to the round of 16.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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