Friday, March 19
Tuscon, Ariz.
All Day
Kansas State University
vs
MountainView Collegiate
K-State Hosts MountainView Collegiate in Tucson
Mar 18, 2021 | Women's Golf
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State women's golf team has hosted the MountainView Collegiate for more than 20 years, and, after a year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Wildcats will travel to Tucson this weekend for the event that will be played Friday through Sunday at the Preserve Golf Club.
"We've had as many Big 12 teams in the field as we ever had," head coach Kristi Knight said. "We have a good mixture of teams, and it's a great group of competition and a good golf course. It's a little more work leading up to the tournament, but we have a great volunteer coordinator out there, Jo Helms, and she helps coordinate a lot of things."
Since 1999, Kansas State and Missouri co-hosted the MountainView Collegiate, but after the SEC coaches voted to only play inter-conference tournaments this season, Missouri was no longer able to participate. The 2020 tournament was cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic, making the 2019 winner, Iowa State, the reigning tournament champion.
K-State took seventh in 2019, one place higher than its 2018 finish. The team fared better in 2017 when Wildcat Madison Talley finished in the top five to help the team tie for sixth place. This year, the ladies are hoping to mark a solid finish as the tournament's only host.
"Coach (Stephanie) Priesmeyer at Missouri and I have worked hard to build this tournament," Knight said about the event she has helped organize since 1999. "We want it to be a good one. It has become a really popular event, so we enjoy that. It is a tournament that teams want to come to, so that's fun."
The Preserve features rolling fairways and undulating greens that cause uneven lies. Built in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, the par-72 6,352-yard course includes rolling desert ridges and deep arroyos as well as a par-3 sixth hole with a 80-foot vertical drop to the green.
"We have played Colbert Hills and Manhattan Country Club, and both courses have uneven lies," Knight said. "We have plenty of elevation change at the two courses we play on. We focused a lot on 100 yards and in, so I feel like the ladies have done a nice job in their preparation."
K-State, which is ranked No. 47 nationally according to Golfstat, will be led by senior Niamh McSherry after her strong performance at the team's last outing, the Florida State Match-Up, which featured a bogey-free round. Texas-native Haley Vargas will also join the K-State squad headed for warmer weather after finishing in a tie for 38th place in Tallahassee. Wildcat freshman Napua Glossner will take on her third collegiate tournament this weekend. Senior Reid Isaac and junior Heather Fortushniak round out the team headed to Tucson.
"The ladies know players from a lot of those teams in the tournament, so they can catch up with some of their friends," Knight said. "I think that's an important aspect of competing and college athletics. I think they are just grateful to compete and that we passed our COVID tests."
The tournament features 70 players from 14 different schools. Big 12 rival Baylor is Golfstat's highest-ranked team in the field in the eighth spot, while Houston's Karen Gredgaard is the top-ranked individual in the field as she checks in at No. 5 in the latest Golfstat rankings.
Other Big 12 schools joining the tournament are No. 32 Iowa State, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 27 Texas. From other conferences, Florida International, Fresno State, No. 25 Houston, No. 35 North Texas, San Jose State, Southern Miss, Tulane, No. 45 Tulsa and UNLV join the competition pool.
"Every competitive round of golf is important," Knight said about tournament preparations. "There isn't one round that is more special than another. That's something we have talked about all year. It's the little things and the day-to-day important things."
Kansas State will tee-off at 8 a.m. on Friday. Fans can follow live scoring at www.golfstat.com throughout the event.
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