Wildcats Begin Spring Season at Hal Williams Collegiate

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men's golf team travels to familiar territory to open its spring campaign by competing in the Hal Williams Collegiate, Monday and Tuesday, at the par-71, 7,178-yard RTJ Magnolia Grove Golf Club in Mobile, Alabama.

This is the seventh time since 2016 the Wildcats will compete in South Alabama's spring event, including the fifth-straight season. K-State finished in third place in 2023, while the Wildcats placed fourth in 2022 and fifth a year ago.

"We are excited to get the spring started in Mobile," head coach Grant Robbins said. "The weather has been less than ideal here, but I feel like we have been able to prepare well considering the conditions. This is a golf course that we have some familiarity with. If you can drive it well, it opens up a lot of opportunities to make birdies. Scoring is usually low there, so it's important that we take advantage of those birdie opportunities, especially on the par 5s. However, the strength of the course is the par 3s as they can play pretty difficult. I really like where this team is at, and I can't wait to watch them compete beginning on Monday."

The Wildcats are one of 13 teams to compete in Mobile, joining Davidson, Kent State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Oral Roberts, Seton Hall, No. 15 SMU, South Alabama, Southern Illinois, Southern Miss, Texas State and UAB.

Kansas State's scoring lineup will be made up of seniors Nicklaus Mason, Kobe Valociek, Cooper Schultz and Ian McCrary as well as freshman Fionn Dobbin. Another freshman, Tyler Strong, will compete as an individual.

Mason, who was on the final fall watch list for the 2024-25 Haskins Award, ranks 28th in the latest National Collegiate Golf Rankings. A native of Shawnee, Kansas, he paces the squad with a 70.83 scoring average, while he recorded a pair of wins in the fall at the Wildcat Invitational and Steelwood Collegiate, the latter also coming in Mobile, Alabama. His best finish in three starts at the Hal Williams Collegiate was in 2022 when he tied for 13th place at 2-under par 214, the best 54-hole score of his freshman campaign.

A senior transfer from Virginia Tech, Valociek holds a 72.83 scoring average with two top-10 finishes, his best being a seventh-place showing at the Wildcat Invitational. His scoring average ranks just behind Schultz's 72.67 mark, as the Andover, Kansas, product has finished in the top 10 on two occasions by tying for second at the Wildcat Invitational and finishing fifth at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational. Schultz's best finish in three starts at the Hal Williams Collegiate was a tie for 28th place at 1-over par 217 in 2022.

McCrary, a native of Overland Park, Kansas, is making his second appearance in the scoring lineup this season and fifth start overall in a stroke play event. He concluded the fall with a 73.58 scoring average, boosted by a score of 1-under par 215 at the Wildcat Invitational to tie for fourth place and a 5-under par 211 at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational to tie for 12th place.

Dobbin enters the spring season ranked second on the team with a 72.50 scoring average in his three stroke play tournaments, which includes a 2-over par 218 showing to tie for 10th at the Wildcat Invitational. Strong is making his third collegiate appearance as he tied for 13th at the Wildcat Invitational with a score of 4-over par 220 and tied for 19th at the Shocker Invitational by carding a 2-over par 218.

The Hal Williams Collegiate begins Monday morning with an 8 a.m. shotgun start to the first two rounds as the Wildcats will be paired with SMU and South Alabama. Tuesday's final round will carry tee times off Nos. 1 and 10 beginning at 8 a.m. Live results can be viewed on SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd.

– k-statesports.com –

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Wildcats Begin Spring Season at Hal Williams Collegiate

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Players Mentioned

Fionn Dobbin

Nicklaus Mason

Ian McCrary

Cooper Schultz

Tyler Strong

Kobe Valociek

Kansas State University Athletics