Friday, March 23
Palm Desert, Calif.
All Day
Kansas State University
at
K-State BIGHORN Invitational
Wildcats Set to Host K-State BIGHORN Invitational
Mar 22, 2018 | Men's Golf
PALM DESERT, Calif. – The Kansas State men's golf team will host its first tournament in four years as the Wildcats travel west to conduct the K-State BIGHORN Invitational, Friday and Saturday, at the par-72, 7,000-yard Canyons Course at BIGHORN Golf Club.
The Wildcats are hosting their first tournament since the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate at Colbert Hills in the fall of 2013. BIGHORN is one of the most renown courses in the country and has been home to many highly-publicized events such as The Skins Games, U.S. Senior Match Play Challenge, Battles at BIGHORN and the LPGA's Samsung World Championships.
"This is a very cool experience for us," head coach Grant Robbins said. "The golf course is just absolutely phenomenal. The conditions are perfect, the greens are rolling perfect and you can't beat the weather. The guys are really enjoying themselves this week. We are very grateful to BIGHORN for having us out."
Eight Wildcats will be competing this weekend with Ben Fernandez, Jacob Eklund, Jeremy Gandon, Roland Massimino and JC Campbell making up the scoring lineup. Kyle Vance, Matthieu Caron and Connor Chesky will compete as individuals.
Kansas State is looking to bounce back from a 16th-place finish nearly three weeks ago at the Tiger Invitational when the Wildcats turned in a 21-over par 885.
"The spark for us is going to happen at some point," Robbins said. "Whether it happens this week, next week or even at the conference tournament, it's going to happen. The big thing is to just keep believing and having that faith. That's what they're doing. They are working really hard. I think the issue in the past has been they are putting a lot of pressure on themselves because we play really well in practice and qualifying.
"If you look at all our tournaments, it's just one round that is holding us back," Robbins continued. "We haven't been able to put three rounds together. They are capable. It's just a matter of staying in the process, believing in themselves and taking it one shot at a time. Once they see success, it's going to carry forward. We are definitely close, but we can't force it."
Fernandez leads the Wildcats with a 72.43 stroke average and four top-20 finishes, which includes a tie for fourth at the USA Individual Tournament to open up play this spring. Eklund is second on the team by averaging 73.10 strokes per round, just head of Gandon who is at 73.71.
The Wildcats will be hosting 11 other teams in the K-State BIGHORN Invitational in BYU, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, San Diego State, South Alabama and Washington State.
The field boasts five teams listed in the latest Golfstat's Top 50 released on Tuesday: Illinois (No. 15), BYU (No. 32), Kansas (No. 35), Colorado (No. 48) and San Diego State (No. 49).
Live scoring from the K-State BIGHORN Invitational can be found at www.Golfstat.com, or by clicking here.
The Wildcats are hosting their first tournament since the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate at Colbert Hills in the fall of 2013. BIGHORN is one of the most renown courses in the country and has been home to many highly-publicized events such as The Skins Games, U.S. Senior Match Play Challenge, Battles at BIGHORN and the LPGA's Samsung World Championships.
"This is a very cool experience for us," head coach Grant Robbins said. "The golf course is just absolutely phenomenal. The conditions are perfect, the greens are rolling perfect and you can't beat the weather. The guys are really enjoying themselves this week. We are very grateful to BIGHORN for having us out."
Eight Wildcats will be competing this weekend with Ben Fernandez, Jacob Eklund, Jeremy Gandon, Roland Massimino and JC Campbell making up the scoring lineup. Kyle Vance, Matthieu Caron and Connor Chesky will compete as individuals.
Kansas State is looking to bounce back from a 16th-place finish nearly three weeks ago at the Tiger Invitational when the Wildcats turned in a 21-over par 885.
"The spark for us is going to happen at some point," Robbins said. "Whether it happens this week, next week or even at the conference tournament, it's going to happen. The big thing is to just keep believing and having that faith. That's what they're doing. They are working really hard. I think the issue in the past has been they are putting a lot of pressure on themselves because we play really well in practice and qualifying.
"If you look at all our tournaments, it's just one round that is holding us back," Robbins continued. "We haven't been able to put three rounds together. They are capable. It's just a matter of staying in the process, believing in themselves and taking it one shot at a time. Once they see success, it's going to carry forward. We are definitely close, but we can't force it."
Fernandez leads the Wildcats with a 72.43 stroke average and four top-20 finishes, which includes a tie for fourth at the USA Individual Tournament to open up play this spring. Eklund is second on the team by averaging 73.10 strokes per round, just head of Gandon who is at 73.71.
The Wildcats will be hosting 11 other teams in the K-State BIGHORN Invitational in BYU, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, San Diego State, South Alabama and Washington State.
The field boasts five teams listed in the latest Golfstat's Top 50 released on Tuesday: Illinois (No. 15), BYU (No. 32), Kansas (No. 35), Colorado (No. 48) and San Diego State (No. 49).
Live scoring from the K-State BIGHORN Invitational can be found at www.Golfstat.com, or by clicking here.
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