K-State Set for Big 12 Championship

MANHATTAN, Kan. – In the midst of one of its best seasons in recent history, the Kansas State women's golf team rides confidence into the 2024 Big 12 Championship, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at the par-71, 6,249-yard Houston Oaks Golf Club in Hockley, Texas.

K-State opens play Thursday morning with tee times beginning at 10 a.m., off hole No. 1, while the Wildcats start the second round on Friday at 10:05 a.m., off hole No. 10. Saturday's final round – which will be shown on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ – begins with tee times off No. 1 at 8 a.m. and No. 10 at 8:35 a.m., as start times and pairings will be based on the results of the first two rounds.

Much like past seasons, the Big 12 is one of the top women's golf conferences in the country with 11 of the 13 squads ranked in the top 60, including the 55th-ranked Wildcats. Other Big 12 teams ranked in the top 60 are No. 11 Texas, No. 23 UCF, No. 38 Houston, No. 40 Baylor, No. 42 Oklahoma State, No. 44 Oklahoma, No. 48 Kansas, No. 49 Iowa State, No. 56 Texas Tech and No. 57 TCU.

"We are excited to compete in the Big 12 Championship," first-year head coach Stew Burke said. "As a team, we have made amazing progress this year and look forward to finishing out the season strong. Houston Oaks is a great test of golf and will crown a champion that has control of their game and plays well. This is another great opportunity for this talented group to compete against the nation's best teams and gain some valuable championship experience. We will put together a solid plan in the practice round, and it will be our job to execute it throughout the championship. I am feeling confident that this team will rise to the occasion."

K-State enters the Big 12 Championship with a team scoring average of 290.44, which would be the school record by nearly seven shots per round if the Wildcats had five more rounds to qualify. Additionally, Kansas State's average placing of 6.11 is its best in a regular season since an average of 5.7 during the 2016-17 season.

Six members of the squad – seniors Napua Glossner and Haley Vargas, junior Carla Bernat, sophomore Noa van Beek and freshmen Julia Ballester Barrio and Alenka Navarro – will travel to Hockley as five members will compete in each round with substitutions allowed between rounds.

Bernat, who ranks 22nd in the NCAA and 23rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, holds a team-leading 70.14 scoring average, which would rank first in school history by over two strokes per round if she had three more rounds to qualify. In her seven stroke-play starts this season, the reigning Big 12 Women's Golfer of the Month has finished in the top five on five occasions, which includes wins at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational in October and the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic last month.

Navarro, a freshman from Mexico City, is second on the team with a 73.45 scoring average, just ahead of Vargas' 73.68 mark. A native of Lubbock, Texas, Vargas has four top-20 finishes, which includes a victory at the White Sands Invitational in late October. Her season scoring average through 25 rounds currently ranks second in school history, while her career average of 75.40 ranks fourth in K-State history.

Live results of the 2024 Big 12 Championship can be followed at www.Golfstat.com.

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Players Mentioned

Julia Ballester Barrio

Carla Bernat

Napua Glossner

Alenka Navarro

Noa van Beek

Haley Vargas

Kansas State University Athletics