Monday, September 13
Manhattan, Kan.
Kansas State University
vs
Wildcat Invitational
Wildcats Earn Runner Up Finish at the Wildcat Invitational
Sep 14, 2021 | Men's Golf
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Led by sophomores Luke O'Neil and Ethan Miller, the Kansas State men's golf team finished the Wildcat Invitational with a strong final round at Colbert Hills on Tuesday morning to capture second place in the season opener.
K-State carded a 2-under par 286 on Tuesday - one of only two of the 13 teams to be under par in the final round - en route to a 54-hole score of 9-over par 873 at the 7,525-yard course. Over the three rounds, the Cats had 147 pars, 50 birdies and 5 eagles.
"I thought we played pretty solid today. We gave ourselves a chance heading into the last six holes but just weren't able to get it done," head coach Grant Robbins said. "Hats off to Sam Houston State though. They have a really good team, and those guys hit a lot of clutch shots and made the putts they needed to in order to win."
Luke O'Neill was the top Wildcat in the 2021-22 opener. He finished the Wildcat Invitational alone in fourth place for the first top-five finish of his career. O'Neill had a huge third round to build on his performance from Monday, carding 3-under par 69 to bring his 54-hole total to 2-under par 214, which tied a career low. The 69 final round on Tuesday tied for O'Neill's career-best individual round.
Tim Tillmanns grabbed his sixth career top-20 finish thanks to his best round of the tournament Tuesday morning. Tillmann's closed out the Wildcat Invitational by scoring a 1-under par 71 to finish tied for ninth place. His final line was 4-over par 220.
The surprise at Colbert Hills this week was Ethan Miller's performance. He finished with a score of 4-over par 220 after a 5-over par 77 final round. Miller recorded his best individual round (67), best 54-hole score (216) and his first career top-ten finish to open the season.
It was quite the day two for another young player in freshman Nickalus Mason, who made his collegiate debut this week. He closed out his debut by putting together a 3-under par 69 round in the final 18 holes, just the 10th player in the tournament to record a score under 70. The Shawnee, Kansas, native climbed 25 spots on the leaderboard during the final round to tie for 12th at 6-over par 222.
Senior Will Hopkins closed out his effort with a 5-over par 77 round three, bringing his final total to 11-over par 227 to tie for 31st.
"Overall we played well in certain spots this week. We made a lot of birdies, however we just made too many mistakes and weren't able to maintain any consistency," Robbins said.
Competing as an individual, Cooper Schultz finished strong in the final round. He carded 2-under par 70 over the final 18 holes to recover nicely from a difficult round two on Monday afternoon. The Andover, Kansas, product tied for 21st with a final tally of 8-over par 224.
Another individual, Riccardo Leo, carded 18-over par 234 to tie for 47th after a 4-over par 76 final round. Jack Baker, who was also competing as an individual, was forced to withdraw halfway through his final round due to injury.
Sam Houston State came away with the team victory by shooting an impressive even-par 864, which included an 8-under par 280 round on Tuesday. Kansas City's George Clarke won the individual title by two strokes at 6-under par 210.
Robbins is optimistic about the team moving forward.
"It's our first tournament, and getting in contention and learning about ourselves by being in that situation is only going to help us as we move forward."
Kansas State will be off next week before returning to action September 27-28, at the Old Town Intercollegiate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
K-State carded a 2-under par 286 on Tuesday - one of only two of the 13 teams to be under par in the final round - en route to a 54-hole score of 9-over par 873 at the 7,525-yard course. Over the three rounds, the Cats had 147 pars, 50 birdies and 5 eagles.
"I thought we played pretty solid today. We gave ourselves a chance heading into the last six holes but just weren't able to get it done," head coach Grant Robbins said. "Hats off to Sam Houston State though. They have a really good team, and those guys hit a lot of clutch shots and made the putts they needed to in order to win."
Luke O'Neill was the top Wildcat in the 2021-22 opener. He finished the Wildcat Invitational alone in fourth place for the first top-five finish of his career. O'Neill had a huge third round to build on his performance from Monday, carding 3-under par 69 to bring his 54-hole total to 2-under par 214, which tied a career low. The 69 final round on Tuesday tied for O'Neill's career-best individual round.
Tim Tillmanns grabbed his sixth career top-20 finish thanks to his best round of the tournament Tuesday morning. Tillmann's closed out the Wildcat Invitational by scoring a 1-under par 71 to finish tied for ninth place. His final line was 4-over par 220.
The surprise at Colbert Hills this week was Ethan Miller's performance. He finished with a score of 4-over par 220 after a 5-over par 77 final round. Miller recorded his best individual round (67), best 54-hole score (216) and his first career top-ten finish to open the season.
It was quite the day two for another young player in freshman Nickalus Mason, who made his collegiate debut this week. He closed out his debut by putting together a 3-under par 69 round in the final 18 holes, just the 10th player in the tournament to record a score under 70. The Shawnee, Kansas, native climbed 25 spots on the leaderboard during the final round to tie for 12th at 6-over par 222.
Senior Will Hopkins closed out his effort with a 5-over par 77 round three, bringing his final total to 11-over par 227 to tie for 31st.
"Overall we played well in certain spots this week. We made a lot of birdies, however we just made too many mistakes and weren't able to maintain any consistency," Robbins said.
Competing as an individual, Cooper Schultz finished strong in the final round. He carded 2-under par 70 over the final 18 holes to recover nicely from a difficult round two on Monday afternoon. The Andover, Kansas, product tied for 21st with a final tally of 8-over par 224.
Another individual, Riccardo Leo, carded 18-over par 234 to tie for 47th after a 4-over par 76 final round. Jack Baker, who was also competing as an individual, was forced to withdraw halfway through his final round due to injury.
Sam Houston State came away with the team victory by shooting an impressive even-par 864, which included an 8-under par 280 round on Tuesday. Kansas City's George Clarke won the individual title by two strokes at 6-under par 210.
Robbins is optimistic about the team moving forward.
"It's our first tournament, and getting in contention and learning about ourselves by being in that situation is only going to help us as we move forward."
Kansas State will be off next week before returning to action September 27-28, at the Old Town Intercollegiate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Wildcats earn runner up finish at the Wildcat Invitational. #KStateMGOLF
— K-State Men's Golf (@KStateMGolf) September 14, 2021
🗞️ https://t.co/5WbHzyWL5Y pic.twitter.com/Dyb9ESBzgT
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