K-State Set for Mossy Oak Collegiate

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Kansas State men's golf team, which sits at No. 21 in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek D1 Coaches Poll, opens the month of April by competing in the Mossy Oak Collegiate, Monday and Tuesday, held at the par-72, 7,212-yard Mossy Oak Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi.

The Wildcats, who are ranked 24th in the latest Golfstat Team Rankings, are in search of their eighth top-five finish of the season, which would tie for the second most in school history with the 2003-04 and 2007-08 squads. The Wildcats have finished fourth or better in all four spring events, which included a victory at The Johnnie-O in the middle of March.

Last year at the Mossy Oak, the Wildcats placed fifth out of 19 teams at 3-under par 861. K-State only finished behind No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 16 Auburn, host-school Mississippi State and LSU.

"We are looking forward to competing at Mississippi State this weekend," head coach Grant Robbins said. "Mossy Oak is a great golf course. It's a unique layout that requires accuracy on your approach shots, and you have to be creative around the greens. We had some success there a year ago, and with most of our guys having played it, there is definitely some familiarity there."

K-State will be led into action by seniors Tim Tillmanns and Will Hopkins, sophomores Nicklaus Mason and Cooper Schultz, and junior Luke O'Neill. These are the same five players the Wildcats have used in each of the last two events when they finished first at The Johnnie-O and fourth at The All-American.

Tillmanns leads the Wildcats with a 70.05 stroke average, while Hopkins is right behind him at 70.10. Tillmanns, a product of Cologne, Germany, is coming off consecutive top-10 finishes as he won The Johnnie-O and tied for eighth at The All-American. He has captured four top-10 showings this year and finished in the top 20 in five of his seven events this season.

A native of Lincolnshire, England, Hopkins has finished in the top 20 in six tournaments this year, including four top-10 showings.

Schultz, a native of Andover, Kansas, holds a 71.19 stroke average with four top-20 finishes. He just missed out on his fifth top-20 outing at The All-American when he tied for 21st. Right behind him in stroke average is Mason at 71.38, while O'Neill sits at 71.94.

A sizable 18-team field boasts nine teams ranked in the Golfstat Top 50, including six that are ranked in the top 25 in No. 4 Auburn, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Alabama, No. 21 Mississippi State, No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 24 K-State. Others in the field are Abilene Christian, No. 33 Cincinnati, Lamar, No. 41 Liberty, No. 43 LSU, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, Troy and UAB.

"It's a very strong field, and it's another great opportunity to see how we stack up against some of the best teams in the country," Robbins said.

A shotgun start to the first 36 holes will begin play on Monday at 8 a.m., while tee times off No. 1 and No. 10 between 8 a.m. and 10:24 a.m. will start final-round action on Tuesday. Live results of the Mossy Oak Collegiate will be available at Golfstat.com.

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Players Mentioned

Will Hopkins

Nicklaus Mason

Luke O'Neill

Cooper Schultz

Tim Tillmanns

Kansas State University Athletics