Trying to Take the Next Step

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Coming of a strong showing in capping the fall season with a top-three finish at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational in late October, upstart Kansas State prepares to tackle the spring behind an experienced squad and a schedule that features biting familiarity.

"There's tremendous potential for this group," head coach Grant Robbins said. "We haven't scratched the surface of what we can achieve."

When we last saw Nicklaus Mason, the senior held a black plaque that read "Individual Champion" after he conquered the 7,096-yard Steelwood Country Club with a 54-hole score of 17-under par 199, which tied for the third-lowest score in program history and the lowest in the seven-year history of the tournament in Loxley, Alabama.

"There is no true weakness in his game," Robbins said. "He's just a good all-around player."

As a team, K-State completed its final tournament of the fall season on October 27 with a third-place finish at 18-under par 846, marking the team's second top-three finish after capturing the Wildcat Invitational. It was a pleasant conclusion to a campaign that began with team-wide sickness at Southern Dunes Invitational (the Wildcats finished seventh out of eight), and that featured a grinder at Blessings Collegiate Invitational (eighth out of 10) before competition in the new-look Big 12 Match Play Tournament (10^th of 15) prior to Steelwood Collegiate.

"Every year you're trying to find out who your top guys are and find some consistency in the lineup," Robbins said. "We had a little bit of bad luck in that first tournament in Arizona when three or four of our guys came down with illness during the week. So, we scrambled just to finish the tournament. That first tournament wasn't indicative of our team. We bounced back with our home tournament and played well there. Arkansas was a little bit of a struggle not knowing that golf course, and it got to us a little bit. Then we had a solid Big 12 Match Play and then a solid finish at Steelwood.

"Going into Steelwood with a pretty strong field, the guys played really, really well. Nick capped off his strong fall with a resounding win there, which was good to see."

Mason led the pack in the fall with a 70.83 scoring average and two individual championships. Cooper Schultz had a 72.67 average with a pair of top-5 finishes. Kobe Valociek, a transfer from Virginia Tech, had a 72.83 average with two top-10 finishes. Ian McCrary had a 73.58 average with two top-20 finishes.

"The strength of our team this year is experience," Robbins says. "We have three guys who are very experienced in Nick, Cooper and Kobe. Nick and Cooper have been four-year starters for us, and both have won tournaments. Kobe was the No. 1 player at Virginia Tech and played in the NCAA Regional last year as an individual. At the four and five spot, we have three players who are vying for two spots.

"Ian McCrary is a transfer from Missouri-St. Louis. He's played, really, really well for us this fall, and he'll be in the mix. Then we have two talented freshmen in Fionn Dobbin, Erik Sabelström Holmberg and Tyer Strong from Kansas City, who's shown some promise as well and will be in the mix."

K-State gets underway at the Hal Williams Collegiate at Magnolia Grove Golf Club in Mobile, Alabama, on Monday and Tuesday. The Wildcats then head to compete in The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, California on February 17-19, a tournament in which they finished fifth out of 24 teams last year. Then it's off to Colleton River Collegiate on March 2-3 at Colleton River Golf Club in Bluffton, South Carolina, where K-State finished fourth out of 14 teams a year ago.

K-State takes on two more familiar golf courses before the Big 12 Championship on April 22-24. First, K-State will compete in the Tiger Intercollegiate on April 7-8 at The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Missouri, where the Wildcats finished eighth out of 18 teams last year. Then the Wildcats compete in the Mossy Oak Collegiate at Mossy Oak Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi, on April 14-15. Last year, K-State finished sixth out of 14 teams, and Schultz tied for seventh place with a 5-under par 211.

"The one thing that's an advantage is there's some familiarity, and that's big with guys like Cooper and Nick and Ian who are experienced," Robbins says. "We're playing a lot of the same tournaments we've played the last couple years. That's a huge advantage when there's some familiarity with the golf courses we're going to play. Cooper and Nick have played several times at Alabama and last year at PGA West in The Prestige, so a lot of those guys are returning that played in that event. Colleton River is a tournament we played in several years in a row, same thing with Missouri and Mississippi State (Mossy Oak). There's some familiarity with the golf courses.

"The fields are going to be strong, so we have to lean on those top three. If we can get those top three clicking at the same time, we can beat anybody. If you look at our fall, all three of them played well but kind of at different times. So, if we can get all three playing well at the same time, we have the depth this year to really make some noise."

The goal remains unchanged from previous years.

"Our goal and standard every year, first and foremost, is to make the NCAA Tournament, but I know the guys are really focused on going a step farther this year and making nationals," Robbins says. "The goal of every program is to win a national championship. There's steps to that. There's one thing that's kind of lingering out there, and that's making the national finals, which is something this program has never done.

"I know Cooper and Nick, especially, our leaders, we came close a couple years ago, and they were on that team when we missed Nationals that year. I know that's really something they're focused on and want to achieve and leave the legacy of being on that first team to make a national championship."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Fionn Dobbin

Nicklaus Mason

Ian McCrary

Cooper Schultz

Kobe Valociek

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