Wildcats Complete First Day of Big 12 Match Play
Oct 09, 2023 | Men's Golf
HOCKLEY, Texas – The Kansas State men's golf team opened the 2023 Big 12 Match Play Tournament with a tie in the morning against BYU and a 3-1-1 loss to Cincinnati on Monday afternoon at the par-71, 7,007-yard Houston Oaks GC.
The Wildcats enter the second and final day of pool play in third place in Pool A and will look to put points on the board when they face Texas on Tuesday morning.
"It was kind of an up and down day," head coach Grant Robbins said. "There were some positives we can build on. I am excited to get back out and compete tomorrow. We have to play with a lot more grit and determination, and I think we will see a lot more of that out of our guys the rest of the way."
Monday morning saw K-State tie BYU of Pool B, 2-2-1, in a non-counting round as there are only three teams in both Pools A and B and four teams in Pools C and D to accommodate the new 14-team Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats collected a dominating 6&5 win by Luke O'Neill over BYU's Keanu Akina in addition to a 3&2 victory by JP Roller over Max Brenchley, while Nicklaus Mason tied his match against Cole Ponich.
O'Neill built his six-hole lead over the first nine and held on down the stretch for the victory. Roller was tied through six holes before working to a four-hole advantage through 14 en route to the victory. Mason's match was more even as he and Ponich tied nine of the 18 holes and neither competitor led by more than one.
"I thought we played fairly well against BYU," Robbins said. "They had a couple of guys play really well, and we had a couple of guys play really well. It was a match that came down to the end."
The Wildcats were in contention for a victory in the afternoon against the Bearcats, thanks in part to a commanding 5&4 victory by Cooper Schultz over Cincinnati's Rylan Wotherspoon. A native of Andover, Kansas, Schultz took four of the first eight holes and extended his lead late for the win.
O'Neill fought his way back to tie his afternoon match against Cincinnati's Cole Imig. Imig won four holes in a five-hole stretch to lead by four through 12, but O'Neill charged back to win four of the last six to net the tie.
Both Roller and Mason were tied late in their respective matches. Mason fought back from being two holes down to tie the match through 10, but Cincinnati's Connor McNeely took four of the next five for a 4&2 win. Roller was also tied through 10 holes with Cincinnati's William McDonald, and, after dropping two-straight holes, won the next two to tie the match again through 14, but McDonald won the next three for a 3&1 victory.
"Against Cincinnati, I thought we came out a little flat and weren't able to take advantage of opportunities that were there to win holes early on," said Robbins. "We got off to a slow start, they started to get some momentum, and we weren't able to do much at the end. However, I was really proud of Luke. He showed tremendous toughness that hopefully we can all feed off of going forward."
K-State's match with Texas will tee off Tuesday morning at 7:45 a.m. Live results of the 2023 Big 12 Match Play Tournament can be followed at www.Golfstat.com.
The Wildcats enter the second and final day of pool play in third place in Pool A and will look to put points on the board when they face Texas on Tuesday morning.
"It was kind of an up and down day," head coach Grant Robbins said. "There were some positives we can build on. I am excited to get back out and compete tomorrow. We have to play with a lot more grit and determination, and I think we will see a lot more of that out of our guys the rest of the way."
Monday morning saw K-State tie BYU of Pool B, 2-2-1, in a non-counting round as there are only three teams in both Pools A and B and four teams in Pools C and D to accommodate the new 14-team Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats collected a dominating 6&5 win by Luke O'Neill over BYU's Keanu Akina in addition to a 3&2 victory by JP Roller over Max Brenchley, while Nicklaus Mason tied his match against Cole Ponich.
O'Neill built his six-hole lead over the first nine and held on down the stretch for the victory. Roller was tied through six holes before working to a four-hole advantage through 14 en route to the victory. Mason's match was more even as he and Ponich tied nine of the 18 holes and neither competitor led by more than one.
"I thought we played fairly well against BYU," Robbins said. "They had a couple of guys play really well, and we had a couple of guys play really well. It was a match that came down to the end."
The Wildcats were in contention for a victory in the afternoon against the Bearcats, thanks in part to a commanding 5&4 victory by Cooper Schultz over Cincinnati's Rylan Wotherspoon. A native of Andover, Kansas, Schultz took four of the first eight holes and extended his lead late for the win.
O'Neill fought his way back to tie his afternoon match against Cincinnati's Cole Imig. Imig won four holes in a five-hole stretch to lead by four through 12, but O'Neill charged back to win four of the last six to net the tie.
Both Roller and Mason were tied late in their respective matches. Mason fought back from being two holes down to tie the match through 10, but Cincinnati's Connor McNeely took four of the next five for a 4&2 win. Roller was also tied through 10 holes with Cincinnati's William McDonald, and, after dropping two-straight holes, won the next two to tie the match again through 14, but McDonald won the next three for a 3&1 victory.
"Against Cincinnati, I thought we came out a little flat and weren't able to take advantage of opportunities that were there to win holes early on," said Robbins. "We got off to a slow start, they started to get some momentum, and we weren't able to do much at the end. However, I was really proud of Luke. He showed tremendous toughness that hopefully we can all feed off of going forward."
K-State's match with Texas will tee off Tuesday morning at 7:45 a.m. Live results of the 2023 Big 12 Match Play Tournament can be followed at www.Golfstat.com.
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