O’Neill Advances to NCAA Championship

Monday, May 15

Bath, Mich.

Kansas State University

NCAA Bath (Mich.) Regional

May 17, 2023 | Men's Golf

Final Results Photo Gallery

BATH, Mich. – Kansas State junior men's golfer Luke O'Neill carded a 2-under par 69 on Wednesday during the final round of the 2023 NCAA Bath Regional to advance as an individual to the NCAA Championship held next week at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

A product of Connemara, Ireland, O'Neill concluded the 54-hole event in a tie for second place at 7-under 206 and moved on to the championship as the lowest individual on a non-advancing team. He was able to secure his spot with a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole - his final hole of the day - to hold off two competitors by one shot.

"I'm extremely proud of Luke," head coach Grant Robbins said. "He's been working extremely hard, and he's been gaining more and more confidence each time out. It's nice to see him be rewarded by getting a chance to play in the national championship."

O'Neill is the fifth player in school history to advance to the NCAA Championship and the first since current PGA TOUR member Robert Streb did so in 2006. The other three Wildcats to advance were Jim Colbert (1964), Richard Laing in 1992 and A.J. Elgert in 2004.

Kansas State opened the day seven shots back of a qualifying spot and made a valiant effort to advance to the NCAA Championship as a team for the first time in program history, but the Cats were unable to keep momentum late in the final round. K-State finished in sixth place at 7-under par 845, just three shots shy of a tie for fifth and a chance at a playoff for a qualifying spot.

"I'm really proud of this group," said Robbins, whose team carded a final-round score of 3-under par 281, the second best of the day. "They gave it everything they had this week, and we just came up three shots short. It's been a phenomenal year. Today stings quite a bit, but we will be able to look back and be extremely proud of everything we've accomplished. We just need to keep building and be ready to take that next step next year."

It was the second time in program history the Wildcats came up one spot short of advancing to the NCAA Championship. K-State finished in 11th place at the NCAA Central Regional in 2003 when 10 teams advanced to the national championship from three different regionals.

Matching O'Neill's 69 on Wednesday was senior Will Hopkins, who moved 17 spots up the leaderboard to a tie for 25th at even-par 213. The NCAA Bath Regional put the final touches on an illustrious career for the Lincolnshire, England, native, who leaves K-State ranked first in school history in career stroke average (72.29), eighth in career tournaments played (43) and ninth in career rounds (128).

Sophomores Nicklaus Mason and Cooper Schultz tied for 43rd at 5-over par 218. Mason carded a 1-over par 73 final round, while Schultz finished at 2-over par 73. Another sophomore, Laurenz Schiergen, was inserted into the lineup on Wednesday due to an injury to Tim Tillmanns, and he put together a counting score of even-par 71.

The Wildcats finished the season with a school-record stroke average of 281.47, nearly seven shots per round better than the previous low mark of 288.24 put together by last year's squad. K-State also tied for second in school history in both team victories (4) and top-five finishes (7), while they had eight of the top-20 team rounds and seven of the top-25 team 54-hole scores in school history.

Tillmanns finished the season with a school-record individual stroke average of 70.21, while Hopkins finished second at 70.35 and Schultz in third at 71.15. The previous record was held by Roland Massimino, who registered a 71.33 mark in 2018-19.

O'Neill will begin play at the 2023 NCAA Championship on Friday, May 26. Following single rounds of stroke play on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the field will be cut to the top 15 teams and top nine individuals on a non-advancing team. The final round of stroke play will be held on Monday, May 29, to determine an individual national champion and the final eight teams to advance to match play.