Not Done Yet
May 09, 2024 | Women's Golf, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
They celebrated with pizza at Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen and then headed to the airport — Kansas State junior women's golfer Carla Bernat, head coach Stew Burke and assistant coach Rinko Mitsunaga, famished from a long day, excited for the present, and eager for the future.
Nearly six hours after teeing off the final round of the 2024 NCAA Bryan Regional on Wednesday, Bernat punched her ticket to the NCAA Championship. She qualified for the grand event by finishing as the low individual on a non-advancing team, topping the next player in that category by six shots. Dressed in her K-State purple, Bernat held her sign "TICKET PUNCHED" upon the green, green grass at the par-72, 6,376-yard Traditional Club in Bryan, Texas.
"Honestly, I couldn't believe it," Bernat said. "I knew how hard it was going to be to qualify. I was just really happy. It was a really cool week."
She added: "My dad and mom were very happy."
Bernat, a native of Castellon, Spain, becomes just the second individual in K-State women's golf history and the first since 2003 to make a NCAA Championship. She tied for third place overall, the highest in school history in a NCAA Regional. She rose three spots on the leaderboard during the final round after putting together a second-straight score of 3-under par 69, thus concluding the regional with a 54-hole score of 7-under par 209. Her 209 was the best in K-State's NCAA Regional history and tied for seventh all-time in K-State history as well.
"We're just kind of scratching the surface here of what she's capable of," Burke said. "This gives her that opportunity to continue to show and compete like she's done all season for us."
The 2024 NCAA Championship will be held next Friday through Monday at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
Hopefully, the weather is better than what the coaches and their pupil discovered when they traveled to Bryan, Texas late last week. Inclement weather prompted Bryan Regional officials to nix practice rounds prior to playing the first round.
"We never got a practice round for this tournament because of weather," Burke said. "We only got to play two holes the day we arrived. The next day, because we got so much rain, we only got to chip and putt around the green. Putting that plan together and really just sticking to that plan and staying patient — she never once let herself get flustered that she wasn't going to get an opportunity to play the course."
Bernat didn't feel any ill effects of the possible setback.
"I didn't have any fear," she said. "Just not having a practice round, I'd never experienced that before."
With a round of 1-under par 71 on Monday, Bernat sat in a tie for sixth place. She had just one of 11 under-par first rounds among the 66-player field as she put together her 17th round of under-par golf this season. On Tuesday, she tied the school record for lowest round by a Wildcat in NCAA postseason play with a 3-under par 69 while remaining in sixth place. That led to Wednesday, which got off to a pleasant start when Bernat parred the 1st hole after bogeying the hole each of the previous two days.
"I just hit the fairway, and then I had 165 yards into the green. I shot it over the pin, and had a 25-footer for birdie, and then left it just short," she said. "It was what I needed to start. Getting a par felt good."
Bernat's first hole kickstarted a bogey-free 3-under par front 9 with birdies on the par-3 2nd hole, par-4 6th hole and par-5 8th hole. She also birdied the par-5 10th hole before pars on each of the next five holes.
As for ranking fifth in the field with 13 birdies over the three days of the regional?
"I was pleased, but my first day I had so many chances," she said. "It's good but it could've been better."
Her perfectionism has led to brilliance.
"What she does well is prepare," Burke said. "It's not the work we do at the tournament but the work we do at home to prepare that leads to success. My job this week was easy. Coach Rinko was on the greens with her. She had really good speed control over the course of three days. It was a total team effort this week. She made our job really easy."
It was while competing in high school that Bernat met Burke for the first time in December 2019. Burke was head coach at Tulane. Bernat won the Campeonato de Espana Amateur Championship, Spain's premier ladies stroke play championship, and she led the Spanish Girls National Team at the 2020 European Girls Team Championship. Burke offered Bernat advice on her golf game. She eventually went to Tulane to learn under Burke.
When Burke accepted the head coaching job at K-State prior to this season and brought Mitsunaga along to Manhattan, Bernat was close behind ("They're like my dad and mom here," Bernat said in March).
Burke beams with pride over the scope of Bernat's accomplishment.
"It's something she truly deserves," he said. "She's worked hard all season."
She's turned in one of the best years by an individual in the history of K-State women's golf. And she isn't finished.
Now she's headed to California to compete in the NCAA Championship.
"I'm going to be able to sleep, but I'm really excited," Bernat said. "California has weather, food and golf. That's all I want."
And it will have a practice round.
"Yeah," Bernat chuckles. "That'll be essential."
They celebrated with pizza at Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen and then headed to the airport — Kansas State junior women's golfer Carla Bernat, head coach Stew Burke and assistant coach Rinko Mitsunaga, famished from a long day, excited for the present, and eager for the future.
Nearly six hours after teeing off the final round of the 2024 NCAA Bryan Regional on Wednesday, Bernat punched her ticket to the NCAA Championship. She qualified for the grand event by finishing as the low individual on a non-advancing team, topping the next player in that category by six shots. Dressed in her K-State purple, Bernat held her sign "TICKET PUNCHED" upon the green, green grass at the par-72, 6,376-yard Traditional Club in Bryan, Texas.
"Honestly, I couldn't believe it," Bernat said. "I knew how hard it was going to be to qualify. I was just really happy. It was a really cool week."
She added: "My dad and mom were very happy."
Bernat, a native of Castellon, Spain, becomes just the second individual in K-State women's golf history and the first since 2003 to make a NCAA Championship. She tied for third place overall, the highest in school history in a NCAA Regional. She rose three spots on the leaderboard during the final round after putting together a second-straight score of 3-under par 69, thus concluding the regional with a 54-hole score of 7-under par 209. Her 209 was the best in K-State's NCAA Regional history and tied for seventh all-time in K-State history as well.
"We're just kind of scratching the surface here of what she's capable of," Burke said. "This gives her that opportunity to continue to show and compete like she's done all season for us."
The 2024 NCAA Championship will be held next Friday through Monday at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
Hopefully, the weather is better than what the coaches and their pupil discovered when they traveled to Bryan, Texas late last week. Inclement weather prompted Bryan Regional officials to nix practice rounds prior to playing the first round.
"We never got a practice round for this tournament because of weather," Burke said. "We only got to play two holes the day we arrived. The next day, because we got so much rain, we only got to chip and putt around the green. Putting that plan together and really just sticking to that plan and staying patient — she never once let herself get flustered that she wasn't going to get an opportunity to play the course."
Bernat didn't feel any ill effects of the possible setback.
"I didn't have any fear," she said. "Just not having a practice round, I'd never experienced that before."
With a round of 1-under par 71 on Monday, Bernat sat in a tie for sixth place. She had just one of 11 under-par first rounds among the 66-player field as she put together her 17th round of under-par golf this season. On Tuesday, she tied the school record for lowest round by a Wildcat in NCAA postseason play with a 3-under par 69 while remaining in sixth place. That led to Wednesday, which got off to a pleasant start when Bernat parred the 1st hole after bogeying the hole each of the previous two days.
"I just hit the fairway, and then I had 165 yards into the green. I shot it over the pin, and had a 25-footer for birdie, and then left it just short," she said. "It was what I needed to start. Getting a par felt good."
Bernat's first hole kickstarted a bogey-free 3-under par front 9 with birdies on the par-3 2nd hole, par-4 6th hole and par-5 8th hole. She also birdied the par-5 10th hole before pars on each of the next five holes.
As for ranking fifth in the field with 13 birdies over the three days of the regional?
"I was pleased, but my first day I had so many chances," she said. "It's good but it could've been better."
Her perfectionism has led to brilliance.
"What she does well is prepare," Burke said. "It's not the work we do at the tournament but the work we do at home to prepare that leads to success. My job this week was easy. Coach Rinko was on the greens with her. She had really good speed control over the course of three days. It was a total team effort this week. She made our job really easy."
It was while competing in high school that Bernat met Burke for the first time in December 2019. Burke was head coach at Tulane. Bernat won the Campeonato de Espana Amateur Championship, Spain's premier ladies stroke play championship, and she led the Spanish Girls National Team at the 2020 European Girls Team Championship. Burke offered Bernat advice on her golf game. She eventually went to Tulane to learn under Burke.
When Burke accepted the head coaching job at K-State prior to this season and brought Mitsunaga along to Manhattan, Bernat was close behind ("They're like my dad and mom here," Bernat said in March).
Burke beams with pride over the scope of Bernat's accomplishment.
"It's something she truly deserves," he said. "She's worked hard all season."
She's turned in one of the best years by an individual in the history of K-State women's golf. And she isn't finished.
Now she's headed to California to compete in the NCAA Championship.
"I'm going to be able to sleep, but I'm really excited," Bernat said. "California has weather, food and golf. That's all I want."
And it will have a practice round.
"Yeah," Bernat chuckles. "That'll be essential."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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