K-State Geared for Second Straight Regional Appearance
May 13, 2004 | Men's Golf
2004 NCAA Central Regional
Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker G.C.
Dates: May 20-22
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,259
Total Holes: 54
Format: 18 holes all three days
The Field (Seed): Kansas State (13), Oklahoma State (1), Texas (2), TCU (3), Minnesota (4), Oklahoma (5), Kentucky (6), Arkansas (7), Kansas (8), Tulsa (9), Colorado (10), SMU (11), Texas Tech (12), Baylor (14), Texas A&M (15), Xavier (16), Illinois (17), Ohio State (18), Purdue (19), Kent State (20), Wichita State (21), Indiana (22), Lamar (23), Notre Dame (24), Princeton (25), Western Illinois (26), Jackson State (27)
The NCAA Central Regional Lineup
Name Yr-Exp Rnds. Avg.
Aaron Watkins Sr-3L 31 73.35
Matt Van Cleave Jr-1L 31 73.87
A.J. Elgert Sr-3L 28 74.53
Tim Moody Sr-1L 20 74.70
Ben Kern So-1L 23 73.26
Setting the Scene
The No. 35 Kansas State men’s golf team is making its second consecutive NCAA Central Regional appearance and third all time. The regional, hosted by Purdue, will be contested at the Kampen Course of the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in
K-State in Regional Play
This is K-State’s third bid to the NCAA Central Regional since the NCAA adopted regional play in 1989.
2003
Last season, K-State missed qualifying for its first NCAA Championships by one stroke at the school’s first regional appearance since 1993. K-State entered the Central Regional ranked 26 out of 27 teams, but finished in 11th. The regional was played on K-State’s home course at Colbert Hills. K-State carded the best final round of the tournament at 8-under 280 and finished with a team score of 287-305-280872 (+8). Greg Douglas led the way for K-State with a 68-81-68217 to tie for 33rd.
2003 NCAA Central Regional
Colbert Hills -
Par: 72; Yardage: 7,525
Final Team Standings
1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
7. SMU 277 301 288 869
10.
11.
12.
13. Lamar 285 304 286 875
14.
16. TCU 287 300 290 877
17.
19.
20.
22. Northwestern 287 308 289 884
23.
Wright State 297 297 293 887
26.
27. Baylor 289 313 291 893
Individual Top 5
1. *Brett Callas, Houston 71 69 67 207
2.
t3. Judd Easterling, WSU 69 68 72 209
J.J. Wall,
t5. Hunter Mahan, OSU 71 71 68 210
Jason Moon, NC State 66 71 73 210
Chris Stroud, Lamar 69 71 70 210
t33. Greg Douglas 68 81 68 217
t48. Aaron Watkins 74 77 69 220
t48. Matt Van Cleave 72 77 71 220
t85. Josh Persons 76 76 72 224
t102.A.J. Elgert 73 75 78 226
* Denotes individual competitor
1993
At K-State’s first-ever regional appearance, the Wildcats finished 21st out of 21 teams in the event played in
t73. Jim Brenneman 77 76 78 231
t81. Richard Laing 78 75 80 233
t97.
t109.Sean Robertson 84 80 81 245
t111.Brett Waldman 88 87 78 253
Last Time Out
Kansas State had three players finish among the top 15 individuals and the Wildcats combined to shoot a team total of 881 to finish fourth at the 2004 Big 12 Men’s Golf Championships held at the par-70, 6,596-yard Prairie Dunes Country Club. It was the best Big 12 finish ever for K-State, which has climbed consistently at the league championship under the guidance of seventh-year head coach Tim Norris, and the best finish by the Wildcats since taking fourth at the 1969 Big Eight Championships. K-State was led by Senior Aaron Watkins, who carded a 216 (+6) to tie for sixth. Junior Matt Van Cleave finished ninth at 9-over 219. Senior A.J. Elgert tied for 13th at 221 (+11).
2004 Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship
Prairie Dunes Country Club
6,596 yards, par 70
April 26-27
Final Team Results
1.
2.
3.
4.
T5.
T5.
T5.
8.
9. Baylor 299 297 299 895
10.
11.
12.
Individual Top 10
1 Jason Hartwick,
2 Anthony Kim,
T3
T3 Alex Noren,
5 Ryan Baca, Baylor 71 73 71 215
T6 Blake Martin,
T6 Aaron Watkins,
8 Casey
T9 Oscar
T9 Matt Van Cleave,
K-State Scores
t6. Aaron Watkins 70 71 75 216
t9. Matt Van Cleave 76 70 73 219
t13. A.J. Elgert 69 74 78 221
t36. Tim Moody 75 74 78 227
t40. Ben Kern 77 75 76 228
Norris in the Big 12
Since head coach Tim Norris took the reins prior to the 1997-98 season, the Wildcats have made a steady climb up the Big 12 standings. In Norris’ first season, K-State finished last in the Big 12, but have since either equalled or improved with every season. The pinnacle of K-State’s finishes in the Big 12 came this season, when K-State finished in fourth.
K-State in the Big 12
Year Finish Score
1997 7th 917
1998 12th 967
1999 10th 910
2000 10th 905
2001 8th 941
2002 7th 885
2003 T6th 927
2004 4th 881
Going Kampen
The par-72 course opened in 1998 will play to 7,259 yards. Kampen features bent-grass tees, greens and fairways. The Kampen course has hosted multiple prestigious events in its short history including: two Big Ten Championships and the 2003 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships.
A Second Chance at Kampen Golf Course
Just a little over a month ago, K-State got a sneak peek at the Kampen Course as they took part in the Boilermaker Invitational. It gave the Wildcats the rare opportunity of playing a regional course in a regular season event. The Wildcats didn’t fare so well in the Boilermaker Invitational, finishing in 12th with a 889 (+25), but should have a leg up on most teams with their experience at the course.
Norris on the Regional
On going back to the site of K-State’s toughest tournament of the year...
“I like going back after not playing as well the first time. I think we learned a lot and that is why we went there. I feel much better going there now knowing that there is room for improvement then if we had gone there and played the best we could have played.”
On the competition at the regional level...
“If we go and play well, we’ve got a chance to compete. If we under perform at this level of competition, we’re going to come out on the short end of the stick.”
All-Big 12, Again
For the second straight year Aaron Watkins was named to the All-Big 12 Men’s Golf Team. Last year, Watkins made history, becoming the first K-State golfer selected to the All-Big 12 Conference team. Watkins is just one of three golfers on the 10-man team to be selected to both the 2003 and 2004 squads. The league’s 2004 Player of the Year and Tournament Champion Jason Hartwick earned All-Big 12 honors for the fourth consecutive year, while Baylor’s Ryan Baca was named to the team for the second straight year.
Classroom Champions
The Wildcats had three student-athletes selected to the 2004 All-Big 12 Academic Team. Senior Tim Moody and junior Matt Van Cleave earned first-team honors, while senior Greg Douglas garnered second-team honors. Douglas was tabbed as a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection last season.
The Lineup
K-State has used five different lineups over the course of the season and have experienced varying levels of success with each. For the third time this season and second straight event, the Wildcats will use a lineup comprised of Aaron Watkins, Matt Van Cleave, A.J. Elgert, Tim Moody and Ben Kern. This is the same lineup the Wildcats used at the Big 12 Championships. The other time K-State used this lineup was when the Wildcats concluded the fall season at the Duke Classic and finished in fifth in the 15-team field.
Douglas, Elgert, Persons, Van Cleave, Watkins
Date Event Score Finish
9/12-13 Badger Inv. 294-294588 2nd/9
9/20-21 Inverness 299-303-294896 2nd/15
9/29-30 Jim Colbert 300-286586 3rd/8
Elgert, Kern, Persons, Van Cleave, Watkins
10/6-7 Purina 277-268-285830 1st/9
3/8-9 Jim Hackler 303-302-291896 T7th/19
3/29-30 Stevinson 286-281-294861 2nd/14
4/10-11 Boilermaker 300-289-300889 12/18
Elgert, Kern, Moody, Van Cleave, Watkins
10/19-20 Duke 294-290-298882 5th/15
4/26-27 Big 12 290-289-302881 4th/12
Douglas, Elgert, Moody, Van Cleave, Watkins
2/16-17 Matlock 297-289-296882 5th/15
Kern, Moody, Persons, Van Cleave, Watkins
4/17-18 Kepler 297-303-307907 10th/18
The Field
Of the 27 teams in the NCAA Central Regional, 20 are ranked among the top 50 teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin poll released May 9th. Nine of 27 teams are from the Big 12 Conference, and they are all seeded in the top 15. The Big Ten has the second-most representatives with five. The regional boasts three programs in the top 10, with Oklahoma State No. 8, Texas No. 9 and TCU No. 10. The other ranked teams are No. 13 Minnesota, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 22 Kentucky, No. 23 Arkansas, No. 25 Kansas, No. 31. Tulsa, No. 32 Colorado, No. 33 SMU, No. 35 K-State, No. 36 Texas Tech, No. 39 Illinois, No. 40 Indiana, No. 41 Baylor, No. 45 Ohio State, No. 46 Wichita State, No. 47 Texas A&M and No. 50 Kent State. K-State holds a record of 16-22 against the field. Only four schools (Jackson State, Princeton, SMU and Western Illinois) haven’t been in a tournament with the Wildcats this season.
Tournament Pairings
First Round - Thursday, May 20
1st Tee
12:45p.m.-1:21p.m.
#13 K-State, #14 Baylor, #15 Texas A&M
Second Round - Friday, May 21
10th Tee
8:42 a.m.-9:18 a.m.
#13 K-State, #14 Baylor, #15 Texas A&M
Final Round - Saturday, May 22
Morning Groups: 7:12 a.m.-9:18 a.m.
Standings 16-27
Afternoon Groups: 11:51 a.m. -1:12 p.m.
Standings 1-15 + Individual Qualifiers
The pairings for the final round will be based on team standings through 36 holes.
Wildcat Stalwart
Senior Aaron Watkins will be making his 29th straight appearance in the Wildcats’ lineup Thursday at the Central Regional. The last tournament Watkins wasn’t a part of was the 2002 Branson Creek Invitational. Watkins has started 47 of the 49 tournaments the Wildcats have participated in since his arrival in the Fall of 2000. The only other tournament he wasn’t in the starting five for was the very first tournament during the fall of his freshman year (2000), but he still participated as an individual. Watkins is the only Wildcat to be playing in his third straight regional.
Follow the Wildcats
Like at the Big 12 Championships, live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com, so you can follow the Wildcats and their quest for their first appearance at the NCAA Championships. All three regionals will have live scoring.
K-State vs. D-I Opponents
Overall 92-40-1 (.697)
Big 12 18-8 (.692)
Top 25 7-12-1 (.368)
Top 50 18-28-1(.391)
Golfweek/Sagarin Poll Watching
Highest Position
Date Rank
9-21 9
Lowest Position
4-22 37
Current Position
5-9 35
Head-To-Head With the Field (16-22)
Arkansas 0-1
Baylor 1-0
Colorado 2-1
Illinois 1-3
Indiana 0-2
Jackson State 0-0
Kansas 1-1
Kentucky 0-1
Kent State 1-2
Lamar 1-0
Minnesota 1-0
Notre Dame 2-0
Ohio State 0-2
Oklahoma 1-1
Oklahoma State 0-1
Princeton 0-0
Purdue 1-2
SMU 0-0
TCU 0-1
Texas 1-0
Texas A&M 1-0
Texas Tech 2-0
Tulsa 0-1
Western Illinois 0-0
Wichita State 1-0
Xavier 0-1
Conference Call
Big 12 9
Big Ten 5
SEC 2
WAC 2
Atlantic 10 1
Big East 1
Conference USA 1
Ivy 1
MAC 1
Mid-Continent 1
Missouri Valley 1
Southland 1
SWAC 1
Kansas State Men’s Golf
Central Regional Tournament History
1993
Ohio State Scarlet Course/Columbus, Ohio
Team - 21st (943)
Top Ind. - Jim Brenneman - T73rd (231)
1995*
Bentwater C.C./Montgomery, Texas
Scott Hovis - T 36th (222)
2002*
Pleasant Valley Country Club/Little Rock, Ark.
Aaron Watkins - T 85th (229)
2003
Colbert Hills/Manhattan, Kan.
Team - 11th (876)
Top Ind. - Greg Douglas - T 33rd (217)
*Denotes Individual Qualifier Only
