SE: K-State Fueled with Motivation Going into Second Big 12 Match Play Tournament
Oct 08, 2019 | Men's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Three motivational forces are driving the K-State men's golf team as it enters the second annual Big 12 Match Play Tournament at Houston Oaks Golf Club from Friday to Sunday in Texas.
What happened last week, what happened last month, and what happened last year.
Last week, K-State's golfers sat in on a motivational speech from Rod Cate, who was brought in by Wildcat baseball coach Pete Hughes. Cate, who published his life story in a memoir entitled, "Get Back Up," suffered a broken neck on the football field at age 15, was paralyzed from the neck down and, against extremely low odds, found a way to walk again.
"I think that did a lot of good," senior Jacob Eklund said of listening to Cate. "Here's a guy who was a very good athlete and had everything (athletically) taken away from him with one hit and was paralyzed from the neck down…it was kind of the attitude of you're not owed anything, and it's about your perspective on life. That could go extremely well with the Big 12 Match Play. Our perspective could be, 'Oh, we're supposed to lose against these teams,' or our perspective could be, 'We have a great opportunity to go out here and beat some really good teams.'"
"He was really inspirational," added junior Kyle Vance. "(Cate) was pretty much, like, 'Don't quit. Don't ever give up.' It kind of made sense for our team. We started this season out not too great, and some people might have put their heads down and maybe been a little bit, 'Whoa is me,' but we're all motivated and we're not going to quit."
Which takes us to September.
K-State, coming off a fiery spring that ended just shy of an NCAA Regional bid, finished 16th in its first two tournaments this fall. The team held a meeting almost immediately after coming back from its most recent tournament, the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas. There, K-State posted a 4-under par 280 the second round but ended it with a 11-over par 295 in the third round.
"We all sat down after we came back from Dallas and we kind of made things real again and made it clear to everyone that nothing's going to come to you. You have to work hard, and you have to put the time in in order to get something out of it," sophomore Will Hopkins said. "We've all bought into that, and we have worked hard. You can always work harder, but each individual person is trying to do his job so we can all come together and be great as a team.
"I think we just need to take care of our preparation and then, once we get into the tournament, relax and go play the game, rather than being so caught up in what we're doing and the rankings and where we can be in a few months' time. We have to try and stay in the present, do what we can at that moment and let the golf take care of everything else, really."
When two five-team pools are announced for the Big 12 Match Play Tournament later this week, the Wildcats expect to be placed near the bottom in a conference that sent nine teams to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
It's not something they are bothered too much by, either. They know it means nothing in regards to where they can finish.
The Wildcats were seeded 10th last year. They finished sixth, falling one hole shy of being fifth after a 3-2-1 loss to TCU. Still, they tied Oklahoma, which made it to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals last year, and defeated Iowa State. Vance and Eklund both carded individual wins against Texas, which was the NCAA runner-up last year.
It, in a way, was the start of team's spring turnaround, Hopkins said.
"It was a big confidence boost," he said. "(Facing) Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, these big schools, and being able to, firsthand, see we can go up against them, I think that was a kickstart to what happened for the rest of the year. It's there for us again this year. It can be a big confidence boost, big kickstart for better things to come."
"Every tournament's an opportunity," Eklund added. "We'll get it right. We have a bunch of guys who are willing to work hard, and we just have to focus, put the past behind us and look to the future."
Along with Eklund, Hopkins and Vance, K-State will send junior George Clarke, redshirt freshman Jared Strathe and a pair of talented true freshmen in Riccardo Leo, the team leader in stroke average (72.5), and Tim Tillmanns.
This group, Vance said, is prepared to surprise some people. Just not themselves.
"We know we can compete with these guys," he said. "We just have to believe in it and actually make it happen."
Three motivational forces are driving the K-State men's golf team as it enters the second annual Big 12 Match Play Tournament at Houston Oaks Golf Club from Friday to Sunday in Texas.
What happened last week, what happened last month, and what happened last year.
Last week, K-State's golfers sat in on a motivational speech from Rod Cate, who was brought in by Wildcat baseball coach Pete Hughes. Cate, who published his life story in a memoir entitled, "Get Back Up," suffered a broken neck on the football field at age 15, was paralyzed from the neck down and, against extremely low odds, found a way to walk again.
"I think that did a lot of good," senior Jacob Eklund said of listening to Cate. "Here's a guy who was a very good athlete and had everything (athletically) taken away from him with one hit and was paralyzed from the neck down…it was kind of the attitude of you're not owed anything, and it's about your perspective on life. That could go extremely well with the Big 12 Match Play. Our perspective could be, 'Oh, we're supposed to lose against these teams,' or our perspective could be, 'We have a great opportunity to go out here and beat some really good teams.'"
"He was really inspirational," added junior Kyle Vance. "(Cate) was pretty much, like, 'Don't quit. Don't ever give up.' It kind of made sense for our team. We started this season out not too great, and some people might have put their heads down and maybe been a little bit, 'Whoa is me,' but we're all motivated and we're not going to quit."
Which takes us to September.
K-State, coming off a fiery spring that ended just shy of an NCAA Regional bid, finished 16th in its first two tournaments this fall. The team held a meeting almost immediately after coming back from its most recent tournament, the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas. There, K-State posted a 4-under par 280 the second round but ended it with a 11-over par 295 in the third round.
"We all sat down after we came back from Dallas and we kind of made things real again and made it clear to everyone that nothing's going to come to you. You have to work hard, and you have to put the time in in order to get something out of it," sophomore Will Hopkins said. "We've all bought into that, and we have worked hard. You can always work harder, but each individual person is trying to do his job so we can all come together and be great as a team.
"I think we just need to take care of our preparation and then, once we get into the tournament, relax and go play the game, rather than being so caught up in what we're doing and the rankings and where we can be in a few months' time. We have to try and stay in the present, do what we can at that moment and let the golf take care of everything else, really."
When two five-team pools are announced for the Big 12 Match Play Tournament later this week, the Wildcats expect to be placed near the bottom in a conference that sent nine teams to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
It's not something they are bothered too much by, either. They know it means nothing in regards to where they can finish.
The Wildcats were seeded 10th last year. They finished sixth, falling one hole shy of being fifth after a 3-2-1 loss to TCU. Still, they tied Oklahoma, which made it to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals last year, and defeated Iowa State. Vance and Eklund both carded individual wins against Texas, which was the NCAA runner-up last year.
It, in a way, was the start of team's spring turnaround, Hopkins said.
"It was a big confidence boost," he said. "(Facing) Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor, these big schools, and being able to, firsthand, see we can go up against them, I think that was a kickstart to what happened for the rest of the year. It's there for us again this year. It can be a big confidence boost, big kickstart for better things to come."
"Every tournament's an opportunity," Eklund added. "We'll get it right. We have a bunch of guys who are willing to work hard, and we just have to focus, put the past behind us and look to the future."
Along with Eklund, Hopkins and Vance, K-State will send junior George Clarke, redshirt freshman Jared Strathe and a pair of talented true freshmen in Riccardo Leo, the team leader in stroke average (72.5), and Tim Tillmanns.
This group, Vance said, is prepared to surprise some people. Just not themselves.
"We know we can compete with these guys," he said. "We just have to believe in it and actually make it happen."
Players Mentioned
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