Kansas State University
Golfweek Conference Challenge
Wildcats Slide on Final Day of Golfweek Conference Challenge
Sep 17, 2019 | Men's Golf
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Riccardo Leo showed some of the potential that made the true freshman one of the six picks to make the trip for K-State's season-opening tournament with a top-30 finish as an individual, but as a team the Wildcats' slipped down the leaderboard on the final day of the Golfweek Conference Challenge. K-State was no exception to a final round that saw elevated tallies across the entire field as the Wildcats finished in 16th place at the Par 72, 7,086-yard Cedar Rapids Country Club.
Leo, who narrowly missed making the team's scoring lineup in a grueling qualifying process, turned in a final round 73 (+2) tied for the best among any Wildcat in the field and finished 27th at 4-over 220 for the tournament. He was second among all players in pars made with 42.
Will Hopkins also fired a 73 (+2) in Tuesday's finale, two strokes better than the field average of 75.08, for his best round of the tournament.
K-State senior Jacob Eklund was the best finisher out of the Wildcats' scoring lineup, finising one stroke behind Leo at 221 (+5) and in a tie for 32nd. Eklund was one of 18 players in the 93 player field to reach double digit birdies (10) and torched the par-3 holes with a tournament-best-tying 2.78 scoring average, but a pair of double bogeys early on Tuesday knocked him out of contention for a top-20 finish.
Behind Eklund, Kyle Vance shot 9-over par 225 to tie for 50th, while Hopkins and Ben Fernandez both finished tied for 68th at 11-over par 227. Redshirt Freshman Jared Strathe finished tied for 87th at 19-over par 235 in his first official counting rounds as a Wildcat.
Illinois State's David Perkins ran away with the individual title, shooting 10-under par 206, three strokes ahead of second place. Likewise, Ball State led wire to wire after opening with a tournament best 279 and finished as the only team under par after a combined 853 (-11), 15 strokes ahead of second place.
K-State will have less than a week to regroup as the team turns its focus to the Trinity Forest Invitational at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas, home of the PGA's AT&T Byron Nelson Classic.
Players Mentioned
