Wildcats Return to Play at the Mossy Oak Invitational

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men's golf team returns to action on Monday and Tuesday at the Mossy Oak Invitational in West Point, Mississippi, the first of two mid-April events before postseason play begins.

"We are looking forward to competing this weekend at Mississippi State," head coach Grant Robbins said. "With the way the schedule fell this spring, we've had a little bit of a break between tournaments and I know the guys are excited to get going again."

K-State last competed almost a month ago at the Louisiana Classics where the Cats finished in sixth place at 7-under par 857.

It was yet another solid performance in a season that has seen the Wildcats claim five top-five finishes through seven stroke-play events and accumulate a 284.76 stroke average, which, if the season ended today, would be the lowest mark in school history.

The upcoming event, hosted by Mississippi State, will be held on the par-72, 7,212-yard Mossy Oak Golf Club.

"Mossy Oak is a relatively new course that has quickly established itself as one of the best in the country," Robbins said. "I've heard nothing but great things about it and we are really looking forward to playing there."

Robbins is encouraging his players to be confident in their fundamentals when taking on this new challenge.

"Like anywhere, the key for us is to drive it well and be smart in our approaches, from what I hear the green complexes can be challenging so it will be important to be in good position off the tee and be disciplined in selecting our targets into the greens," Robbins said. "I'm excited to see what we can do this week."

Tim Tillmanns, Will Hopkins, Luke O'Neill, Laurenz Schiergen and Nicklaus Mason represent the five in the scoring lineup. This is the third time that Robbins has utilized this lineup combination.

Tillmanns, who qualified for the NCAA Stillwater Regional a year ago, knows the importance of a strong finish to the spring schedule. The Cologne, Germany, product has been a leader from the one-spot in the lineup throughout the season, racking up four top-10 finishes while leading the team in stroke average at 71.38.

Two other season-long members of the lineup, Hopkins and O'Neill, will look to make the most of this penultimate spring event.

O'Neill, a sophomore, who burst onto the scene for K-State last September when he tied for fourth at the Wildcat invitational, took his game to another level in 2022 when he won the individual championship at the Colleton River Collegiate. He carded a career-low 14-under par 202 to become the first Wildcat since 2019 to claim an individual championship.

Hopkins, the senior leader for the Cats, has earned four top-20 finishes throughout the 2021-22 season and holds a 71.90 stroke average.

Two freshmen, Mason and Schiergen have been crucial to providing necessary depth to the five-man lineup.

Schiergen, who joined the Wildcats at semester, is coming off the best finish of his career when he tied for 17th place at the Louisiana Classics. Through his three career events, he's maintained a 71.78 stroke average, which is good for second best on the team.

Mason, making his sixth scoring lineup appearance, heads to Mississippi with extra experience gained a few weeks ago at "The Indy," where he captured his first career top-five finish.

With these five ready to go, K-State will hope for another high finish in the massive 19-team field that includes ranked foes No. 18 Florida State, No. 28 LSU, No. 19 Ole Miss, and No. 47 UAB along with Arkansas State, Auburn, Chattanooga, Lipscomb, Louisiana, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Michigan, Middle Tennessee, No. 19 Ole Miss, South Alabama, Southern Miss and Vanderbilt.

The event will begin on Monday at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start to rounds one and two. Play will conclude on Tuesday with tees times to begin the final round. Fans can follow live scoring on golfstat.com.

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Players Mentioned

Will Hopkins

Nicklaus Mason

Luke O'Neill

Laurenz Schiergen

Tim Tillmanns

Kansas State University Athletics