photo by: Kansas Athletics

KU golfer Will King competes in the final round of the NCAA Regional in Norman, Okla. on May 17, 2023.

A furious finish on the final nine and then an epic eight-hole, sudden-death playoff has a Kansas freshman golfer going to the NCAA National Championships.

Olathe freshman Will King on Wednesday completed the unlikely task of qualifying for the National Championship tournament while playing in his first collegiate postseason tournament.

King won the one and only automatic qualifying spot for an individual golfer at the NCAA Regional in Norman, Oklahoma.

But it took a comeback and then a lot of extra golf to get there.

With half his round in the books, King was at 5-under par for the tournament and trailing Ole Miss golfer Hugo Townsend to win the automatic qualifying spot, which goes to the top individual in the field from a non-advancing team.

After nine holes, King was still at even par for the day. But on the final nine holes he shot 4-under par. Townsend bogeyed his final hole, which left King and the Ole Miss golfer tied. The duo began a sudden-death playoff — meaning the first one to win a hole would advance to the National Championships at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, later this month.

That sudden-death playoff was far from sudden. The two golfers matched each other stroke for stroke for seven holes. King emerged the victor after knocking an approach shot within 5 feet of the pin on the eighth playoff hole. King went on to make the birdie, and Townsend couldn’t match it.

“It was a long grinder of a day, but I can’t wait for Scottsdale,” King said. “It was a lot of fun. That’s why you play. By hole four, you’re just in a daze playing, not feeling any nerves. It was a lot of fun. Hugo is a great player. It was fun to battle that out.”

King, who played his high school golf at Rockhurst, was not expected to be in this position for the Jayhawks. The freshman did not enter the tournament as KU’s top golfer, and some may have discounted his chances in the playoff too. King, a freshman, was facing a graduate senior in Townsend.

It mattered not, as King was hot from start to finish in this NCAA Regional. He posted a 4-under par score in the first round of the tournament on Monday, finished with a 4-under par on Wednesday and had a 1-under round on Tuesday.

“I’m super excited for Will,” KU coach Jamie Bermel said. “Coach Wilson was with him during the entire playoff and the two of them were a great team out there. It is very difficult to get the individual spot and our freshman went toe-to-toe with a fifth-year graduate transfer and came out on top in a dog fight.”

Now it is on to the National Championship tournament, which runs May 26-31 in Scottsdale. King will be the lone Jayhawk competing. The Kansas team posted its best round of the tournament on Wednesday — shooting 7-under par — but so did many other squads.

KU finished in 10th place. Only the top five teams in the regional advance to the National Championship event. KU was competing in its seventh straight NCAA Regionals, but struggled to get going as a team. The Jayhawks were within striking distance of the top 5 spots after day one, but then faded in the second round and could not make up enough ground in the final round.

“I’m disappointed for the team, but we gained a lot of experience this week, and I know this will motivate all the guys to work hard this summer and hopefully get another shot in 2024 with different results,” Bermel said.