Kansas State University
Missouri Tiger Intercollegiate
K-State, Eklund Place Second at Tiger Invitational
Apr 09, 2019 | Men's Golf
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Kansas State men's golf team turned in another solid score, headlined by junior Jacob Eklund, as both finished in second place following Tuesday's final round of the Missouri Tiger Invitational held at the par-72, 7,221-yard Club at Old Hawthorne.
K-State moved up one spot during the final round and finished at 33-under par 831 thanks to the best round of the day at 9-under par 279. The Wildcats turned in their fourth straight top-three finish, while it was only the third time in school history K-State shot under 280 in all three rounds. Additionally, the team score of 831 ranked as the fifth lowest in school history.
Eklund, who led the leaderboard coming into play on Tuesday, carded an even-par 72 to finish at 13-under par 203. His second-place finish was his third in the top five, which leads the team this spring. Eklund's final score of 203 tied for the fifth-best 54-hole score in school history and lowest individual score by a Wildcat since Ben Juffer set the school record with a 198 in 2012.
"I'm very pleased and so proud of them," head coach Grant Robbins said. "They've come so far. We knew we had a chance, and we knew we were going to have to have a low round today. We got into contention in the back nine, but TCU is really good and they made a lot of birdies coming in. We just couldn't keep up. But, I'm really proud of our guys. To shoot 33-under par says a lot about our team and what we are capable of. We had the low round of the day in the final round, and we've done that a few times this spring, so we just have to keep it going."
"Yesterday was really nice," Eklund said. "I was hitting it really well and was just rolling. I think that was the difference between yesterday and today. I didn't hit it that bad today – putts just weren't dropping, where yesterday it seemed that the hole was as big as the ocean. It was really nice to go out there and put together two consecutive rounds."
Senior Jeremy Gandon made a nine-place improvement during the final round, as his 7-under par 209 led him to a tie for ninth to record his third top-10 finish this season. Ben Fernandez, Roland Massimino and JC Campbell – the latter playing as an individual – each carded a 5-under par 211 and tied for 18th. Campbell carded a 69 on Tuesday to improve 11 spots. Freshman Will Hopkins also moved up 11 spots with a 3-under par 69, and he finished in 38th place at 1-over par 217.
The Wildcats were unable to overcome 35th-ranked TCU, which claimed the Tiger Invitational team title at 40-under par 824.
K-State will conclude its regular season April 20-21, at the Hawkeye Intercollegiate in Iowa City, Iowa.
Missouri Tiger Invitational
The Club at Old Hawthorne
Columbia, Missouri
Par 72, 7,221 Yards
Team Scores: 1. TCU, 267-277-280–824 (-40); 2. Kansas State, 276-276-279–831 (-33); 3. Missouri, 275-274-296–845 (-19); 4. Illinois State, 281-279-286–846 (-18); 5. Oral Roberts, 285-282-281–848 (-16); 6. UMKC, 280-288-282–850 (-14); 7. Southern Illinois, 288-278-285–851 (-13); 8. Missouri State, 278-290-291–859 (-5); T9. SIU Edwardsville, 284-285-292–861 (-3); T9. South Dakota, 285-292-284–861 (-3); 11. Morehead State, 292-280-292–864 (E); 12. Drake, 296-291-296–883 (+19). 13. South Dakota State, 302-286-300–888 (+24); 14. Central Arkansas, 297-300-303–900 (+36); 15. Hutchinson CC, 296-298-308–902 (+38).
Top Individuals: Stefano Mazzoli, TCU, 65-68-66—199 (-17); 2. Jacob Eklund, Kansas State, 66-65-72—203 (-13); T3. David Ravetto, TCU, 66-69-71—203 (-10); T3. Cody Burrows, Oral Roberts, 66-71-69—206 (-10); T5. Three Players, 207 (-9).
Other K-State Individuals: T9. Jeremy Gandon, 69-71-69–209 (-7); T18. Ben Fernandez, 68-72-71–211 (-5); T18. Roland Massimino, 73-68-70–211 (-5); T18. JC Campbell*, 73-69-69–211 (-5). 38. Will Hopkins, 74-74-69–217 (+1).
* Denotes competing as an individual
Players Mentioned
