Kansas men’s golf team will have more than two weeks to prepare for the Big 12 Championships, and it will gladly use the time. Kansas will be playing on the course every day until its trip to Texas later this month.

Texas A&M; will host the Big 12 Championship this year at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Trinity, Texas, April 29 to May 1. The tournament will be played in a 54-hole format, with 18 holes played each of the three days. This marks the first time that Whispering Pines will sponsor a conference championship event.

The 7,300 yard, par 72 championship golf course is a Jack Nicklaus design. Golf Digest named it the third-best golf course in the state of Texas when the course opened in 2001. None of the Kansas golfers have ever played it.

Kansas will be playing as much golf as possible before the tournament, because a poor performance at Whispering Pines could mean the end of the season.

Sophomore Tyler Docking will be practicing primarily at Alvamar Golf and Country Club’s private course in the next two weeks. Alvamar’s driving range and public course are closed for renovations.

“We’re going to be up there playing every day,” Docking said. “After our performance in North Carolina, we can really use this time to practice and get our games together.”

The Jayhawks, ranked No. 34 in the nation by Golfweek, will try to build on their fifth place finish at the conference championship last April at Prairie Dunes. A strong performance by the Jayhawks will guarantee them a spot in the NCAA Regionals.

Senior Kevin Ward is taking a unique approach to preparing for the championship. He is going to play a variety of area golf courses to get a feel for playing different places.

“I’m going to try to change it up a bit,” he said. “I’m going to get around to as many courses that will let me on so I can be better prepared to play a course that I haven’t seen yet.”

Yesterday, Ward played at Hallbrook Country Club in Leawood. He called it one of his favorite courses. Ward will also be playing golf at Wolf Creek Golf Club in Kansas City, Kan., and at Hillcrest Country Club in Kansas City, Mo.

In addition to playing those different courses, he will also be playing the course at Alvamar. Ward is also waiting for the re-opening of the new Alvamar Golf Club, which is expected to occur sometime next week.