Two former Jayhawks selected for Kansas Golf Hall of Fame induction

photo by: AP Photo/Ryan Kang

Gary Woodland watches his drive from the ninth tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

The Kansas Golf Foundation plans to add a pair of University of Kansas luminaries to its Hall of Fame.

The Kansas Golf Hall of Fame’s 2024 class, as announced at the start of April, includes a current PGA Tour player in Gary Woodland and a former one in Matt Gogel, both of whom played on KU golf teams of the past.

They will join the Hall of Fame’s 50 previous inductees dating back to 1991. Derby resident Woody Austin is also a member of this year’s three-man group.

The date and venue for the induction festivities have yet to be announced. Kansas Golf Foundation trustee (and Hall of Famer) Jeff Burey said the organization is working on coordinating schedules to finalize the right time and place this fall. The ceremonies in 2022 — the foundation introduces new inductees every two years — took place across two separate banquet events that October, one in Overland Park and one in Hutchinson.

This will be the latest of many honors for the decorated Woodland, after KU received permission last September to rename its golf facilities in west Lawrence in his honor.

Woodland, a 2007 graduate of the university, has won four events on the PGA Tour, including most notably the 2019 U.S. Open.

In recent months he faced a different kind of challenge as he had to have surgery to address a lesion on his brain. He underwent the procedure in September and was back golfing at the highest level in January when he competed in the Sony Open in Hawaii. Last week he participated in the Masters after hitting a memorable hole-in-one at the tournament’s Par 3 Contest.

Gogel won a conference championship as a freshman at KU and went on to earn an All-American nod later in his career before graduating in 1994.

As a PGA Tour member, Gogel had many of the most prominent moments of his career occur at Pebble Beach in California. He was on the receiving end of a legendary Tiger Woods comeback there in 2000, the year Gogel earned his card, but then won an event there in 2002. Eventually, he played his final PGA Tour competition there before retiring in 2007.

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, he lives in Mission Hills, and played a key role in the renovation of The Jayhawk Club (formerly Alvamar Country Club). He has in recent years competed on the PGA Tour Champions senior tour.

photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Matt Gogel watches his shot off the second tee during the first round of the PGA Tour Champions Principal Charity Classic golf tournament, Friday, June 3, 2022, in Des Moines, Iowa.

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