SE: ‘A Good Day for K-State Golf:’ Gandon Claims Big 12 Individual Co-Championship, Jaffrey Receives Individual Bid for NCAA Regional
Apr 26, 2018 | Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
After senior Connie Jaffrey was announced as an individual qualifier to the NCAA Regional in Madison, Wisconsin, K-State women's golf head coach Kristi Knight wrapped up an interview with a simple summary of Wednesday.
"It's a good day for K-State golf," Knight said, as K-State's women will be represented in the postseason for the fourth-straight year, tying the program's longest such stretch.
Knight was not just talking about her program, either.
About 200 miles south in Tulsa, Oklahoma, K-State men's junior Jeremy Gandon claimed a share of the Big 12 Championship individual title. His performance marked the program's first ever Big 12 individual medalist and the first individual conference title since 1951 when Graham Hunt won the Big Seven Championship.
"I'm extremely happy for Jeremy," K-State men's head coach Grant Robbins said. "This is something that can catapult him."
Regaining Gandon
The best competition can bring out the best in Gandon.
The native of France tied for fourth at the Big 12 Championship as a freshman, a season that included three top-five finishes and a tie for first.
"It's the best field we play," Gandon said of the Big 12 Championship, where he finished with a score of 3-over-par 283 to share the individual title with Oklahoma State's Kristoffer Ventura, Oklahoma's Grant Hirschman and Texas' Doug Ghim, the low amateur at the 2018 Masters. "It's pretty exciting to play with those guys and compete against them. Maybe it kind of pumped me up a little bit and made me play better."
Gandon, through some ups and downs since his first season, regained his freshman form the last few weeks of this spring. He finished tied for ninth at the Missouri Invitational and ran away with the individual title at the Hawkeye Invitational, besting the field by four strokes.
Gandon's lead-up to the Big 12 Championship, he said, gave him "hope" for what he could do to finish the season and salvage what otherwise has been a disappointment in his eyes.
It was not false hope, either.
On Day One in Tulsa, Gandon posted a 1-over par 71 before evening it up with a 1-under par 69 to sit at even and in second place. He followed with another 71 on Tuesday to enter the final round one shot off the lead.
"We've always known he's had the talent. He hasn't had the best year, overall, but he's gotten so much better with his attitude, working on the mental part of the game," Robbins said. "Playing well at Iowa gave him so much confidence, and he's just a guy that loves the big stage. He loves coming out and playing against the best players in the country, the Big 12. He loves that challenge. He's not afraid of it."
Gandon's resolve was tested early in the final round. Starting his round on the back nine, he bogeyed three of his first four holes to fall farther back of the lead, but he recovered quickly by tallying birdies on three of the last four holes on the back.
On the front nine, Gandon battled through the cold and rainy conditions, not to the mention the nerves that built as he began to realize he was either close to or in the lead when a photographer started following him.
"I knew I was close," he said, "and I was kind of struggling with my ball striking at the end."
Gandon notched up-and-down sand saves on holes five and six, adding another scramble par to his day on the par-4 seventh. A three-putt led to a double-bogey on hole eight and it was followed by a bogey to finish his final round to put him on the outside looking in. Then he watched Hirschman bogey his final hole to fall back into the four-way tie for first.
"It's kind of unfortunate on eight, the three-putt, but I still won," Gandon said, laughing.
His head coach shared the same feeling.
"He's such a talented player and I feel really bad for him, the way he finished the last couple of holes but fortunately he was able to still get the tie," Robbins said. "He played some unbelievably solid golf the entire day and really kept himself in it. I'm just so proud of him."
Jaffrey Rides Best Collegiate Season into Bonus
Jaffrey held no nerves as she sat down to watch Wednesday's NCAA Women's Selection Show on the Golf Channel.
K-State women's lone senior, with two tournament titles in her final campaign alone, felt confident the "best golfing performance" of her career would leave her playing in an NCAA Regional somewhere.
"The coaches were pretty confident, which made me pretty confident to see my name up there," Jaffrey said.
After about an hour of waiting for the individual qualifiers to pop up, Jaffrey finally saw what she expected. She was chosen as the top individual qualifier for the Madison Regional, where she will play the University Ridge Golf Course on May 7-9.
"It's always a good feeling when you go to Regionals," she said. "It's what you worked for."
Jaffrey extends K-State's streak of being represented in the postseason to four years, tying the program's longest run of NCAA appearances from 2001-04.
"It's not easy to get in as an individual and it's not easy to get in as a team," Knight said. "I'm just really proud of Connie. She's just had a really solid year. She's just played extremely well. Over the course of a long season, spread out over two semesters, she did a great job. I'm really happy for her and really proud of her."
A native of Scotland, Jaffrey said she takes pride in keeping K-State's name involved in NCAA's postseason. She hopes it can lead to more in the future.
"I'm always proud and honored to represent K-State. I do feel as though I'm part of the family. That is K-State's motto. We are a family, so I definitely think that's important, bringing them and representing my college in regionals," she said. "It means that our program's strong, it definitely gets our name out there and hopefully more players will be encouraged to come to K-State."
While at K-State, Jaffrey said she's taken her putting to another level. This season, she's focused more on her ball striking to gain consistency all over the course. Both are evident in her 72.48 stroke average, which is nearly two strokes lower than her career-best average and is on pace to break the single-season school record set by her former teammate, Madison Talley.
More than anything, however, Jaffrey said the biggest difference this season has been how she's mentally approached it.
"It's been a happy environment for me," she said. "For my senior year I just wanted to go out with a bang, so I was less worried, less stressed, and just kind of had a bit more fun playing tournaments and putting no pressure on myself. I definitely think having more fun and enjoying it has made me perform better."
After senior Connie Jaffrey was announced as an individual qualifier to the NCAA Regional in Madison, Wisconsin, K-State women's golf head coach Kristi Knight wrapped up an interview with a simple summary of Wednesday.
"It's a good day for K-State golf," Knight said, as K-State's women will be represented in the postseason for the fourth-straight year, tying the program's longest such stretch.
Knight was not just talking about her program, either.
About 200 miles south in Tulsa, Oklahoma, K-State men's junior Jeremy Gandon claimed a share of the Big 12 Championship individual title. His performance marked the program's first ever Big 12 individual medalist and the first individual conference title since 1951 when Graham Hunt won the Big Seven Championship.
"I'm extremely happy for Jeremy," K-State men's head coach Grant Robbins said. "This is something that can catapult him."
Regaining Gandon
The best competition can bring out the best in Gandon.
The native of France tied for fourth at the Big 12 Championship as a freshman, a season that included three top-five finishes and a tie for first.
"It's the best field we play," Gandon said of the Big 12 Championship, where he finished with a score of 3-over-par 283 to share the individual title with Oklahoma State's Kristoffer Ventura, Oklahoma's Grant Hirschman and Texas' Doug Ghim, the low amateur at the 2018 Masters. "It's pretty exciting to play with those guys and compete against them. Maybe it kind of pumped me up a little bit and made me play better."
Ended on a high note... ???look back at a Gandon's gritty final round. ?????#kstatemgolf #big12golf pic.twitter.com/cbPfy28lY8
— K-State Men's Golf (@KStateMGolf) April 25, 2018
Gandon, through some ups and downs since his first season, regained his freshman form the last few weeks of this spring. He finished tied for ninth at the Missouri Invitational and ran away with the individual title at the Hawkeye Invitational, besting the field by four strokes.
Gandon's lead-up to the Big 12 Championship, he said, gave him "hope" for what he could do to finish the season and salvage what otherwise has been a disappointment in his eyes.
It was not false hope, either.
On Day One in Tulsa, Gandon posted a 1-over par 71 before evening it up with a 1-under par 69 to sit at even and in second place. He followed with another 71 on Tuesday to enter the final round one shot off the lead.
"We've always known he's had the talent. He hasn't had the best year, overall, but he's gotten so much better with his attitude, working on the mental part of the game," Robbins said. "Playing well at Iowa gave him so much confidence, and he's just a guy that loves the big stage. He loves coming out and playing against the best players in the country, the Big 12. He loves that challenge. He's not afraid of it."
Gandon's resolve was tested early in the final round. Starting his round on the back nine, he bogeyed three of his first four holes to fall farther back of the lead, but he recovered quickly by tallying birdies on three of the last four holes on the back.
On the front nine, Gandon battled through the cold and rainy conditions, not to the mention the nerves that built as he began to realize he was either close to or in the lead when a photographer started following him.
"I knew I was close," he said, "and I was kind of struggling with my ball striking at the end."
Gandon notched up-and-down sand saves on holes five and six, adding another scramble par to his day on the par-4 seventh. A three-putt led to a double-bogey on hole eight and it was followed by a bogey to finish his final round to put him on the outside looking in. Then he watched Hirschman bogey his final hole to fall back into the four-way tie for first.
"It's kind of unfortunate on eight, the three-putt, but I still won," Gandon said, laughing.
His head coach shared the same feeling.
"He's such a talented player and I feel really bad for him, the way he finished the last couple of holes but fortunately he was able to still get the tie," Robbins said. "He played some unbelievably solid golf the entire day and really kept himself in it. I'm just so proud of him."
Jaffrey Rides Best Collegiate Season into Bonus
Jaffrey held no nerves as she sat down to watch Wednesday's NCAA Women's Selection Show on the Golf Channel.
K-State women's lone senior, with two tournament titles in her final campaign alone, felt confident the "best golfing performance" of her career would leave her playing in an NCAA Regional somewhere.
"The coaches were pretty confident, which made me pretty confident to see my name up there," Jaffrey said.
After about an hour of waiting for the individual qualifiers to pop up, Jaffrey finally saw what she expected. She was chosen as the top individual qualifier for the Madison Regional, where she will play the University Ridge Golf Course on May 7-9.
For Connie, confidence was in her back pocket before today's #NCAAGolf selection show #kstatewgolf pic.twitter.com/mrufdmUO1D
— K-State Women's Golf (@KStateWGolf) April 26, 2018
"It's always a good feeling when you go to Regionals," she said. "It's what you worked for."
Jaffrey extends K-State's streak of being represented in the postseason to four years, tying the program's longest run of NCAA appearances from 2001-04.
"It's not easy to get in as an individual and it's not easy to get in as a team," Knight said. "I'm just really proud of Connie. She's just had a really solid year. She's just played extremely well. Over the course of a long season, spread out over two semesters, she did a great job. I'm really happy for her and really proud of her."
A native of Scotland, Jaffrey said she takes pride in keeping K-State's name involved in NCAA's postseason. She hopes it can lead to more in the future.
"I'm always proud and honored to represent K-State. I do feel as though I'm part of the family. That is K-State's motto. We are a family, so I definitely think that's important, bringing them and representing my college in regionals," she said. "It means that our program's strong, it definitely gets our name out there and hopefully more players will be encouraged to come to K-State."
While at K-State, Jaffrey said she's taken her putting to another level. This season, she's focused more on her ball striking to gain consistency all over the course. Both are evident in her 72.48 stroke average, which is nearly two strokes lower than her career-best average and is on pace to break the single-season school record set by her former teammate, Madison Talley.
More than anything, however, Jaffrey said the biggest difference this season has been how she's mentally approached it.
"It's been a happy environment for me," she said. "For my senior year I just wanted to go out with a bang, so I was less worried, less stressed, and just kind of had a bit more fun playing tournaments and putting no pressure on myself. I definitely think having more fun and enjoying it has made me perform better."
Players Mentioned
K-State Women's Golf | Carla Bernat ANWA Recognition
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Women's Golf | Behind The Scenes Photoshoot
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Men's Golf | Wildcat Invitational
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Men's Golf | Wildcat Invitational 2025 Recap
Thursday, September 11
