Kansas State University
FSU Match-Up
K-State Hopes to Heat Up in Tallahassee
Feb 25, 2021 | Women's Golf
MANHATTAN, Kan. – After the state of Kansas set a cold-weather record for the most single digit highs in the month of February, the K-State women's golf team hopes that a trip to Tallahassee, Florida will heat up its game, as the Wildcats will compete in the Florida State Match-Up, this Friday through Sunday, held at Seminole Legacy Golf Club.
"We can't control the weather, but we are blessed with an indoor putting green and Trackman simulator," head coach Kristi Knight said. "The girls kept loose and got some reps in. We had the opportunity to leave a day early, so we have given ourselves time down here to get back out and walk around a course."
The Wildcats teed off in the same tournament almost a year ago to the day. In one of its last tournaments before the rest of the season was cancelled due to the pandemic, K-State posted a tie for sixth place. A pair of top-20 finishes from current Wildcats Heather Fortushniak and Niamh McSherry rounded out the 2020 match, which was held at Bay Point Golf Club.
"Last time the team played at Seminole Legacy Club was spring of 2016, and the course has been totally redesigned since then," Knight said. "The clubhouse and parking lot are the same, but the course is completely different."
Fortushniak, a junior, and McSherry, a senior, will return to the tournament this year along with a pair of Texas natives in senior Reid Isaac and sophomore Haley Vargas. Freshman Napua Glossner, who shot a third-round score of 67 the last time out to tie for the eighth-lowest round score in school history, will round out the lineup.
"Napua really came on strong at SMU. She has grown a lot as a player in a very short time," Knight said of her freshman. "She came back this spring with a little more bounce in her step, and she's remembering how good of a player she is."
While the other 13 teams in attendance will be new competitors this year for the Wildcats - the only Big 12 team in the field - Knight is more worried about the course.
"Our opponent this week is going to be the Seminole Legacy Golf Course. That is the nature of golf," Knight commented. "We'll be paired with another team, but at the end of the day, K-State can only control what K-State does. In golf, the opponent is the six inches between your ears and the golf course. That's where our focus will be and where our preparation has been."
The Florida State Match-Up will begin Friday with 18 holes of play at the par-72, 6,255-yard course in Tallahassee and will continue on Saturday and Sunday with 18 holes each day.
Aside from K-State, which is ranked No. 50 in this week's Golfstat rankings, and No. 8 Florida State, the Florida State Match-Up field also includes No. 43 Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Jacksonville, No. 12 Kent State, Notre Dame, Memphis, Mercer, No. 33 Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio State and No. 29 USF.
"We hear it's a great test of golf," Knight said about the course. "Managing our game around the greens will be important because we know the greens are pretty undulating, and we expect them to have some speed to them. At our last competition in Trinity Forest, the greens were pretty speedy, so we are just glad to be back out. We have a lot of gratitude that we are here."
Fans can follow live scoring at www.golfstat.com throughout the event.
Players Mentioned
