Wildcats Open 2024-25 Season at Southern Dunes

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A veteran Kansas State men's golf team opens the 2024-25 campaign by traveling to Maricopa, Arizona, to compete in the Southern Dunes Invitational, Monday and Tuesday, at the par-72, 7,546-yard Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club.

The Wildcats, who boast five seniors on a squad that is looking to get back to the postseason after missing out last year, are opening the season away from home for the first time since 2020.

"We are excited to get the season started in Arizona," said head coach Grant Robbins, who enters his 11th season at the helm of the program. "This was a last-minute change to our schedule as we were committed to play at the Maui Jim Invitational in Scottsdale. However, that tournament was canceled in June, which left us scrambling a little bit to find a replacement. A big thanks to Mark Hankins at USC who was able to put this together rather quickly. I don't know much about the course personally, but a few of our players have played there and really like it."

Kansas State will utilize four seniors and a freshman in its initial scoring lineup of the year as Cooper Schultz, transfer Kobe Valociek, Nicklaus Mason and JP Roller are joined by freshman Fionn Dobbin. The four seniors in the scoring lineup have combined for 339 career rounds played. Additionally, the Wildcats will send senior Ian McCrary, sophomore Harry Bent and freshman Erik Sabelstrom Holmberg to compete as individuals.

The Wildcats are one of only eight teams in the field in addition to Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, Georgia State, Grand Canyon, Kennesaw State, San Diego and USC.

"With the smaller field, it gives us a chance to play several players and get them some experience to start the year," Robbins said. "We had a very competitive qualifier with a lot of low scores, and I know the guys are ready to go out and compete."

A native of Andover, Kansas, Schultz enters the 2024-25 campaign with a 71.80 career scoring average, which currently ranks first in school history, while he is four top-10 finishes shy of entering the school's top-10 list in that category. Schultz is coming off a junior campaign in which he was selected to compete as an individual in the NCAA Austin Regional, just the 15th time ever a Wildcat competed in the postseason as an individual. Schultz posted a team-leading 71.12 scoring average a year ago to rank third in school history, and he recorded two top-five finishes, two others in the top 10 and another pair in the top 20.

Valociek, a native of Peoria, Arizona, comes to K-State after spending the last four seasons at Virginia Tech. He saw time in 32 events for the Hokies with a 72.89 career scoring average, four top-10 finishes and two others in the top-20. Like Schultz, Valociek earned an individual bid into the NCAA Austin Regional to cap his 2023-24 season.

Mason enters his fourth season with the Wildcats holding a 72.46 career scoring average to rank fourth in school history. A native of Shawnee, Kansas, Mason posted a 71.77 scoring average last year to rank 10th in program history as he finished in the top 10 once and the top 20 on four other occasions.

Entering his second season at K-State after transferring in from Texas Tech, Roller competed in 11 events a year ago, including eight in the scoring lineup. The Jenks, Oklahoma, native ranked third on the team with a 72.68 scoring average, and he recorded two top-20 finishes, which included a tie for 10th place at the Steelwood Intercollegiate.

A native of Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Dobbin was a member of the Irish National Team where he competed in the 2022 and 2023 Home Internationals in addition to the 2023 European Boys Team Championship. Rated the No. 2 player in Ireland and 75th overall for U18 in the European Golf Rankings at the time of his signing, Dobbin won the 2023 Edge Golf Championship in Portugal in addition to earning a third-place finish in the 2022 Irish Boys Championship.

A shotgun start to the first and second rounds of the Southern Dunes Invitational begins at 8:30 a.m. (PT) on Monday, while Tuesday's final round will also hold an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Live results can be followed at www.Golfstat.com.

– k-statesports.com –

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Men's Golf, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Harry Bent

Fionn Dobbin

Nicklaus Mason

Ian McCrary

JP Roller

Cooper Schultz

Kobe Valociek

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