Wildcats Continue Campaign at Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
Mar 28, 2024 | Women's Golf
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following a week of preparation, the Kansas State women's golf team heads to the southeast as the Wildcats compete in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, Friday and Saturday, hosted by the University of Georgia at the par-72, 6,351-yard UGA Golf Course in Athens, Georgia.
This is the first time the Wildcats will compete in the event, which will contest its 52nd edition this weekend. In fact, it is just the third time ever that K-State will compete in The Peach State with the other two coming in the Spring of 2017. That year, K-State played in the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate in Stockbridge, while the Wildcats earned a bid into the NCAA Athens Regional held at UGA Golf Course that May.
"We have another great test of golf this week after back-to-back weeks of good fields and difficult golf courses to help us prepare," first-year head coach Stew Burke said. "The team looked sharp and practiced well leading up to this week. We look forward to putting a good plan together on the course in the practice round and executing it under the gun. I'm looking forward to competing against an elite field of teams and raising our team's comfort levels playing with the best. Our ladies belong at this level."
This year's field includes 11 teams ranked in the top 60 of the latest NCAA Rankings, including No. 56 Kansas State. The other ranked teams are No. 10 Auburn, No. 15 Florida, No. 22 Virginia, No. 23 SMU, No. 25 Georgia, No. 34 Michigan, No. 37 Alabama, No. 52 Georgia Southern, No. 57 NC State and No. 60 Charleston. The rest of the field includes Augusta, Illinois, Missouri and San Diego State, while Emory University – the No. 4 team in Division III – will also compete.
K-State will send the lineup of junior Carla Bernat, sophomore Noa van Beek, seniors Napua Glossner and Haley Vargas, as well as freshman Alenka Navarro to Georgia. It is the second time this year the Wildcats will utilize this lineup, the first time being the Westbrook Invitational in late February when they broke the school record for lowest 54-hole score at 24-under par 840.
This will be the first to two-straight events in Georgia for Bernat as, after the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, she will travel 95 miles southeast to compete in the Augusta National Women's Amateur next Wednesday through Saturday.
The five players traveling to Athens are the top-five Wildcats in terms of stroke average, led by Bernat's 70.28 mark. The Castellon, Spain, native has posted 54-hole scores of 7-under par 209 in each of the last three events, two of which earned her third-place finishes.
After not seeing action last time out at the MountainView Collegiate, Navarro is back in the lineup as the freshman holds a 73.06 stroke average with three top-20 showings.
Vargas, a product of Lubbock, Texas, is coming off consecutive tournaments with 54-hole scores of under-par golf that netted her a pair of top-20 finishes, including a tie for 15th place at the MountainView Collegiate at 2-under par 214.
A shotgun start to the first 36 holes of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic will commence on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. (ET) with the Wildcats teeing off on hole Nos. 7-9 and being paired with Florida and San Diego State. Saturday's final round will also carry a shotgun start of 8:30 a.m. (ET). Live results can be followed at www.Golfstat.com.
This is the first time the Wildcats will compete in the event, which will contest its 52nd edition this weekend. In fact, it is just the third time ever that K-State will compete in The Peach State with the other two coming in the Spring of 2017. That year, K-State played in the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate in Stockbridge, while the Wildcats earned a bid into the NCAA Athens Regional held at UGA Golf Course that May.
"We have another great test of golf this week after back-to-back weeks of good fields and difficult golf courses to help us prepare," first-year head coach Stew Burke said. "The team looked sharp and practiced well leading up to this week. We look forward to putting a good plan together on the course in the practice round and executing it under the gun. I'm looking forward to competing against an elite field of teams and raising our team's comfort levels playing with the best. Our ladies belong at this level."
This year's field includes 11 teams ranked in the top 60 of the latest NCAA Rankings, including No. 56 Kansas State. The other ranked teams are No. 10 Auburn, No. 15 Florida, No. 22 Virginia, No. 23 SMU, No. 25 Georgia, No. 34 Michigan, No. 37 Alabama, No. 52 Georgia Southern, No. 57 NC State and No. 60 Charleston. The rest of the field includes Augusta, Illinois, Missouri and San Diego State, while Emory University – the No. 4 team in Division III – will also compete.
K-State will send the lineup of junior Carla Bernat, sophomore Noa van Beek, seniors Napua Glossner and Haley Vargas, as well as freshman Alenka Navarro to Georgia. It is the second time this year the Wildcats will utilize this lineup, the first time being the Westbrook Invitational in late February when they broke the school record for lowest 54-hole score at 24-under par 840.
This will be the first to two-straight events in Georgia for Bernat as, after the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, she will travel 95 miles southeast to compete in the Augusta National Women's Amateur next Wednesday through Saturday.
The five players traveling to Athens are the top-five Wildcats in terms of stroke average, led by Bernat's 70.28 mark. The Castellon, Spain, native has posted 54-hole scores of 7-under par 209 in each of the last three events, two of which earned her third-place finishes.
After not seeing action last time out at the MountainView Collegiate, Navarro is back in the lineup as the freshman holds a 73.06 stroke average with three top-20 showings.
Vargas, a product of Lubbock, Texas, is coming off consecutive tournaments with 54-hole scores of under-par golf that netted her a pair of top-20 finishes, including a tie for 15th place at the MountainView Collegiate at 2-under par 214.
A shotgun start to the first 36 holes of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic will commence on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. (ET) with the Wildcats teeing off on hole Nos. 7-9 and being paired with Florida and San Diego State. Saturday's final round will also carry a shotgun start of 8:30 a.m. (ET). Live results can be followed at www.Golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
K-State Women's Golf | Carla Bernat ANWA Recognition
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Women's Golf | Behind The Scenes Photoshoot
Tuesday, November 11
K-State Men's Golf | Wildcat Invitational
Tuesday, November 11
K-State WGOLF | Carla Bernat Augusta National Women's Amateur Recognition
Saturday, November 01
