SE: K-State Women’s Golf Confident, Relaxed Going into Big 12 Championship
Apr 10, 2019 | Women's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Confident and carefree. Both words describe how K-State women's golf's team enters the Big 12 Championship in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, from Sunday to Tuesday.
The Wildcats, with only one upperclassman on their roster in senior Chloe Weir, saw their team's potential come to life in their most recent tournament when they shot a school-record, 11-under par 277 to open the Bruzzy Challenge in Dallas, Texas.
"I think we saw where we can go and what our potential is. I think that gave us all a lot of confidence as a team," said sophomore Reid Isaac, who finished fifth at the Bruzzy Challenge with a career-best 4-under par 212. "We're a young team, I know we have some inexperience, but I think we saw our potential and we just need to keep striving toward (reaching it) for all of the rounds, every tournament."
"I think we took a lot of momentum from the last tournament," added freshman Briony Bayles, who posted a season-best 5-under par 67 to help break the school record. "We started off really well, put ourselves in contention, which we haven't done before. It was a big step."
K-State's school-record round was certainly a step in the right direction.
It was eight shots lower than the team's previous season-best round and 20 below its scoring average of 297.97 for the season, the program's lowest average since the 2015-16 season. Even more, the Wildcats had not shot below 295 in the first round of any tournament this season. Five of their six lowest 18-hole team totals this season have come in the second or third round.
"A lot (of this season), we've had good rounds toward the end," Bayles said. "I think we all took a lot from the last tournament."
Notably, Bayles said the team started to buy into the fact that putting together a series of good rounds starts between the ears and before they tee off.
"I think just having no worries, not worrying about how we're hitting, not worrying about how good the other teams are, what's happened in the past," she said. "Only learning from what we've done so far is the main thing. And just being confident."
K-State head coach Kristi Knight said she and assistant coach Jared Helin could sense a different energy about the team before the breakout performance. There seemed to be a "light-hearted" nature amongst the team. Knight said she even joked with a few of the Wildcats about the outfit they picked out for the round, specifically that it "didn't quite match."
"The thing that's funny is when you shoot a course record today, you all will be photographed in this outfit," Knight recalled telling a few of the Wildcats in jest. "And they went out and did it."
Like Bayles, Knight credited the team's mental approach more than any specific improvement within the game.
"A lot of it is we get so focused on ball striking that we can work ourselves into a lather and really sap energy," Knight said. "There seemed to be a confidence about them, a carefree attitude about them in the morning (of the first round). They just went out and they played. That's fun to watch. They had fun. At some point, you have to let go of how you're hitting it and just score.
"I really loved the energy that they had last week in Dallas. Even though we didn't finish that event well, I loved the start, and that's what I want them to build on because you have to get yourself in position. And they did that. They went out in the first round and got in contention. That's the first step. I think that was a big confidence boost for them and just shows them what they're capable of."
K-State looks to show more of it at the Golf Club of Oklahoma against a tough conference field, with six teams ranked in Golfstat.com's top 40 in No. 2 Texas, No. 19 Oklahoma, No. 22 TCU, No. 30 Baylor, No. 38 Texas Tech and No. 40 Iowa State.
"The competition is really stiff. The Big 12 is one of the best conferences for women's golf. I think going out there and knowing we are able to compete will be key," Isaac said. "Even though our team hasn't been showing as well as we want to, we can still go out there and compete if we have the confidence and we have the attitude that we are as good anyone out there."
Confident and carefree. Both words describe how K-State women's golf's team enters the Big 12 Championship in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, from Sunday to Tuesday.
The Wildcats, with only one upperclassman on their roster in senior Chloe Weir, saw their team's potential come to life in their most recent tournament when they shot a school-record, 11-under par 277 to open the Bruzzy Challenge in Dallas, Texas.
"I think we saw where we can go and what our potential is. I think that gave us all a lot of confidence as a team," said sophomore Reid Isaac, who finished fifth at the Bruzzy Challenge with a career-best 4-under par 212. "We're a young team, I know we have some inexperience, but I think we saw our potential and we just need to keep striving toward (reaching it) for all of the rounds, every tournament."
"I think we took a lot of momentum from the last tournament," added freshman Briony Bayles, who posted a season-best 5-under par 67 to help break the school record. "We started off really well, put ourselves in contention, which we haven't done before. It was a big step."
K-State's school-record round was certainly a step in the right direction.
It was eight shots lower than the team's previous season-best round and 20 below its scoring average of 297.97 for the season, the program's lowest average since the 2015-16 season. Even more, the Wildcats had not shot below 295 in the first round of any tournament this season. Five of their six lowest 18-hole team totals this season have come in the second or third round.
"A lot (of this season), we've had good rounds toward the end," Bayles said. "I think we all took a lot from the last tournament."
Notably, Bayles said the team started to buy into the fact that putting together a series of good rounds starts between the ears and before they tee off.
"I think just having no worries, not worrying about how we're hitting, not worrying about how good the other teams are, what's happened in the past," she said. "Only learning from what we've done so far is the main thing. And just being confident."
K-State head coach Kristi Knight said she and assistant coach Jared Helin could sense a different energy about the team before the breakout performance. There seemed to be a "light-hearted" nature amongst the team. Knight said she even joked with a few of the Wildcats about the outfit they picked out for the round, specifically that it "didn't quite match."
"The thing that's funny is when you shoot a course record today, you all will be photographed in this outfit," Knight recalled telling a few of the Wildcats in jest. "And they went out and did it."
Like Bayles, Knight credited the team's mental approach more than any specific improvement within the game.
"A lot of it is we get so focused on ball striking that we can work ourselves into a lather and really sap energy," Knight said. "There seemed to be a confidence about them, a carefree attitude about them in the morning (of the first round). They just went out and they played. That's fun to watch. They had fun. At some point, you have to let go of how you're hitting it and just score.
"I really loved the energy that they had last week in Dallas. Even though we didn't finish that event well, I loved the start, and that's what I want them to build on because you have to get yourself in position. And they did that. They went out in the first round and got in contention. That's the first step. I think that was a big confidence boost for them and just shows them what they're capable of."
K-State looks to show more of it at the Golf Club of Oklahoma against a tough conference field, with six teams ranked in Golfstat.com's top 40 in No. 2 Texas, No. 19 Oklahoma, No. 22 TCU, No. 30 Baylor, No. 38 Texas Tech and No. 40 Iowa State.
"The competition is really stiff. The Big 12 is one of the best conferences for women's golf. I think going out there and knowing we are able to compete will be key," Isaac said. "Even though our team hasn't been showing as well as we want to, we can still go out there and compete if we have the confidence and we have the attitude that we are as good anyone out there."
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 WGOLF | Carla Bernat Augusta National Women's Amateur Recognition
Saturday, November 01
