Wildcats Move Up Leaderboard in Wisconsin
Sep 11, 2017 | Men's Golf
Kansas State men's golfers Jacob Eklund and Jeremy Gandon each shot under par to lead the Wildcats to a 14-stroke improvement from their round-one score as K-State climbed four spots during the second round of the Badger Invitational on Monday at University Ridge Golf Course.
K-State enters final-round play tied for 10th place with a 36-hole score of 14-over par 590. The Wildcats are just three strokes behind ninth-place team Illinois State and five back of eighth-place UAB.
"It was good to see the guys bounce back a little bit today," head coach Grant Robbins said. "We made a few mistakes toward the end of the round that kept us from going low, but overall they did a good job of staying in the process."
Eklund had a successful start with four birdies in the front nine and collected seven overall, as he carded a 5-under par 67 to climb 53 spots on the leaderboard to a tie for 25th at 1-over par 145. Gandon posted a 1-under par 71 during the second round and enters final-round play tied for 43rd at 5-over par 149.
"Jacob played very solid and looks more like he has the last few weeks," Robbins said. "Jeremy was more like himself as well. We need to come out tomorrow with a confident mindset and just play golf."
Redshirt freshman Matthieu Caron continues to lead the Wildcats as he is in 24th place at even-par 144. Ben Fernandez is tied for 69th at 9-over par 153, while Kyle Vance carved 11 strokes off his first round of collegiate golf and is tied for 99th at 19-over par 163.
Competing as an individual, JC Campbell is tied for 64th with a two-round score of 8-over par 152.
Texas A&M continues to be the front-runner at 16-under par 560, but Marquette narrowed the gap as the Golden Eagles are six shots back. Texas A&M's Chandler Phillips and Kansas' Andy Spencer are tied atop the individual leaderboard at 8-under par 136.
The final round of the Badger Invitational will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday morning. Live scoring from Madison can be found at www.birdiefire.com with updates posted at www.kstatesports.com.
Badger Invitational
University Ridge GC
Madison, Wis.
Par 72 / 7,259 Yards
Team Scores: 1. Texas A&M 560, (-16); 2. Marquette 566, (-10); 3. Kansas 568, (-8); 4. Notre Dame 572, (-4); T5. Nevada 574, (-2); T5. Iowa State 574, (-2); 7. Wisconsin 578, (+2); 8. UAB 585, (+9); 9. Illinois State 587 (+11); T10. Kansas State 590, (+14); T10. Butler 590, (+14), 12. Rutgers 597, (+21); 13. Oakland 600, (+24); 14. Nebraska 601, (+25); 15. South Dakota State 612, (+36); 16. Loyola-Chicago 634, (+58).
Top Individuals: T1. Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M, 70 (-8); T1. Andy Spencer, Kansas, 65 (-8); 3. Jordan Hahn, Wisconsin, 71 (-6); T4. Zach Burry, Illinois State, 67 (-5); T4. Matt Murlick, Marquette, 69 (-5).
K-State Individuals: 24. Mathieu Caron, 74 (E), T25. Ben Jacob Eklund, 67 (+1), T43. Jeremy Gandon, 71 (+5), T64. JC Campbell, 75 (+8), T69. Ben Fernandez, 77 (+9), 102. Kyle Vance, 76 (+19).
K-State enters final-round play tied for 10th place with a 36-hole score of 14-over par 590. The Wildcats are just three strokes behind ninth-place team Illinois State and five back of eighth-place UAB.
"It was good to see the guys bounce back a little bit today," head coach Grant Robbins said. "We made a few mistakes toward the end of the round that kept us from going low, but overall they did a good job of staying in the process."
Eklund had a successful start with four birdies in the front nine and collected seven overall, as he carded a 5-under par 67 to climb 53 spots on the leaderboard to a tie for 25th at 1-over par 145. Gandon posted a 1-under par 71 during the second round and enters final-round play tied for 43rd at 5-over par 149.
"Jacob played very solid and looks more like he has the last few weeks," Robbins said. "Jeremy was more like himself as well. We need to come out tomorrow with a confident mindset and just play golf."
Redshirt freshman Matthieu Caron continues to lead the Wildcats as he is in 24th place at even-par 144. Ben Fernandez is tied for 69th at 9-over par 153, while Kyle Vance carved 11 strokes off his first round of collegiate golf and is tied for 99th at 19-over par 163.
Competing as an individual, JC Campbell is tied for 64th with a two-round score of 8-over par 152.
Texas A&M continues to be the front-runner at 16-under par 560, but Marquette narrowed the gap as the Golden Eagles are six shots back. Texas A&M's Chandler Phillips and Kansas' Andy Spencer are tied atop the individual leaderboard at 8-under par 136.
The final round of the Badger Invitational will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday morning. Live scoring from Madison can be found at www.birdiefire.com with updates posted at www.kstatesports.com.
Badger Invitational
University Ridge GC
Madison, Wis.
Par 72 / 7,259 Yards
Team Scores: 1. Texas A&M 560, (-16); 2. Marquette 566, (-10); 3. Kansas 568, (-8); 4. Notre Dame 572, (-4); T5. Nevada 574, (-2); T5. Iowa State 574, (-2); 7. Wisconsin 578, (+2); 8. UAB 585, (+9); 9. Illinois State 587 (+11); T10. Kansas State 590, (+14); T10. Butler 590, (+14), 12. Rutgers 597, (+21); 13. Oakland 600, (+24); 14. Nebraska 601, (+25); 15. South Dakota State 612, (+36); 16. Loyola-Chicago 634, (+58).
Top Individuals: T1. Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M, 70 (-8); T1. Andy Spencer, Kansas, 65 (-8); 3. Jordan Hahn, Wisconsin, 71 (-6); T4. Zach Burry, Illinois State, 67 (-5); T4. Matt Murlick, Marquette, 69 (-5).
K-State Individuals: 24. Mathieu Caron, 74 (E), T25. Ben Jacob Eklund, 67 (+1), T43. Jeremy Gandon, 71 (+5), T64. JC Campbell, 75 (+8), T69. Ben Fernandez, 77 (+9), 102. Kyle Vance, 76 (+19).
Players Mentioned
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