K-State Set for Big 12 Championship

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men's golf team is ready to compete in the 2022 Big 12 Championship, held Monday through Wednesday at the par-72, 7,467-yard Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas .

The Big 12 Championship is a 72-hole event with four rounds spread over three days. Two of those rounds will be played on Monday morning beginning at 8 a.m., which is the same start time for round three on Tuesday and round four on Wednesday.

K-State enters the postseason with six top-five finishes and a team stroke average of 285.93, the second-best mark in school history. Ranked as the No. 64 team in the country by Golfstat, the Wildcats are firmly on the bubble for NCAA selection and will try to put together one final push this week in Texas.

"We are excited to be heading back to Whispering Pines for the Big 12 Championship," head coach Grant Robbins said. "It's ranked as one of the top courses in the country and one that will test every part of your game."

Not only with the course be challenging for the Wildcats, but so will the conference field that includes five ranked foes No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 9 Texas, No. 27 Kansas, along with Baylor, Iowa State, TCU and West Virginia,

"The Big 12 again is proving to be the best conference in the country with four teams currently ranked in the top 10," Robbins said. "It's going to be a great challenge and opportunity for us to compete on a world-class course against some of the best teams in the country."

Tim Tillmanns, Will Hopkins, Laurenz Schiergen, Luke O'Neill and Nicklaus Mason make up the five-man scoring lineup. This is the fifth time Robbins has utilized this lineup combination.

Cooper Schultz, a redshirt freshman, will also travel as an alternate.

This will be the third Big 12 Championship appearance for Hopkins, a senior whose leadership and experience will be crucial throughout the 72-hole event.

O'Neill and Tillmanns are both making their second trip to a Big 12 Championship. Tillmanns is accustomed to postseason success as he became the 14th Wildcat to ever earn an individual NCAA bid last season.

Earlier this spring, O'Neill became the first Cat to win an individual title since 2019 when he won a share of the Colleton River Collegiate at 14-under par 202. That 54-hole total is the lowest of any Wildcat this season.

Two freshmen Wildcats — Schiergen and Mason — are making their championship debut after a slew of impressive performances this spring.

With five career appearances, Schiergen has ascended as the team leader in stroke average at 71.47 and has captured three top-20 finishes. Mason heads into Big 12s with four top-20 finishes and seven career scoring lineup appearances.

For Robbins and K-State, the recipe for success this week will be dependent on the work they've put in this season.

"We just have to trust in our preparation, be committed and confident on every shot and go out and have some fun," Robbins said.

Live scoring for the entirety of the event can be tracked by fans on Golfstat.com.

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Players Mentioned

Will Hopkins

Nicklaus Mason

Luke O'Neill

Laurenz Schiergen

Cooper Schultz

Tim Tillmanns

Kansas State University Athletics