Cats Move Up Leaderboard During Round Two

LA QUINTA, Calif. – The Kansas State men's golf team turned in a second-round score of 2-under par 282 on Tuesday to rise four spots up the leaderboard at The Prestige, held at the par-71, 7,129-yard Greg Norman Course of PGA WEST.

The Wildcats tied for the sixth-best score among the 24-team field during the second round, and they enter Wednesday's final 18 holes tied for sixth place at 2-under par 566. K-State is led by senior Kobe Valociek, who maintained his lead on the individual leaderboard thanks to a round of 2-under par 69. He holds a one-shot lead over a three-way tie for second place at 7-under par 135.

"The guys really battled today," said head coach Grant Robbins, whose squad turned in its fourth-lowest round of the season. "The morning wave played much more difficult as the wind kicked up quite a bit. We had a rough stretch there through the middle of the round, but the guys kept at it and finished really strong. There was some solid golf today from all five players. It's a bunched up leaderboard, so we just have to stick to our process, keep grinding away and see what happens."

K-State, which leads the field with 40 total birdies, is tied on the team leaderboard with Florida Atlantic. The Wildcats and Owls are just one shot behind fifth-place Princeton and two shots behind a tie for third place between No. 31 Northwestern and No. 43 Little Rock. K-State and FAU are one shot ahead of No. 23 Texas Tech and two strokes clear of No. 36 Colorado.

Valociek, a native of Peoria, Arizona, put together the second-lowest 36-hole score of his collegiate career, one shot shy of the 134 he tallied over the first two rounds of last year's season opener while playing at Virginia Tech. Entering the day as the first-round leader, Valociek lost his top spot as he was 1-over par on his Tuesday round through 14 holes, but he battled back with three-straight birdies to bring his second-round total back under par.

Another senior, Cooper Schultz, bounced back from an 80 during Monday's first round by matching Valociek at 2-under par on Tuesday. Schultz, who carded his seventh round in the 60s this season, went bogey-free and 2-under par over his final eight holes of the day to rise 27 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 88th place at 7-over par 149.

Nicklaus Mason was staring at a 5-over par second round through the first 11 holes, but the first hole-in-one of his career at the 216-yard, par-3 13th hole turned his day around. That kickstarted a bogey-free, 5-under par run over his final six holes to finish the day at even par. The senior from Shawnee, Kansas, remains in the top 20 as he is tied for 19th place at 2-under par 140.

Senior Ian McCrary and freshman Fionn Dobbin are tied for 80th place at 6-over par 148.

San Diego holds a sizable lead at 11-under par 557 thanks to an 8-under par round on Tuesday. The Toreros enter Wednesday's final round six shots ahead of second-place Kansas.

In a separate 39-man individual tournament held at The Golf Club at Terra Lago, Kansas State freshman Erik Sabelström Holmberg moved up five spots following another round of 3-over par 75. The Stockholm, Sweden, product enters the final round tied for 12th place at 6-over par 150. He is one shot ahead of another Wildcat freshman, Tyler Strong, who is tied for 16th place.

Kansas State's final round of The Prestige begins on the 10th tee Wednesday morning at 8:45 a.m. (PT), as the Wildcats are paired with Texas Tech and Colorado. Live results can be viewed on SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd.

– 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

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Players Mentioned

Fionn Dobbin

Nicklaus Mason

Ian McCrary

Cooper Schultz

Tyler Strong

Kobe Valociek

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