Wildcats Prepped for Big 12 Championship

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men's golf team looks to make one final push for an NCAA Regional bid at its longest tournament of the season as the Wildcats take part in the 2025 Big 12 Championship, a 72-hole event held Tuesday through Thursday at the par-71, 7,481-yard Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The 16-team field will play 36 holes on Tuesday, followed by one round on both Wednesday and Thursday. Kansas State, the No. 11 seed for the event, starts play on Tuesday with tee times off the first tee beginning at 8:30 a.m., as the Wildcats are paired with ninth-seeded Kansas, No. 10 seed TCU and 12th-seeded Iowa State.

This will be the fourth time in Big 12 history that the league championship will be contested at Southern Hills, which has held eight major championships, most recently the 2022 PGA Championship. The last time the Big 12 Championship was held at Southern Hills, K-State's Jeremy Gandon won the individual title to earn the conference's individual automatic berth to NCAA Regionals.

"We are looking forward to competing in the Big 12 Championship this week," said head coach Grant Robbins, whose team sits at No. 62 in the latest National Collegiate Golf Rankings. "Obviously this is a tournament we really look forward to, and having the opportunity to play at a major-championship venue like Southern Hills is very special. Playing 72 holes over three days can be pretty challenging, so it's important to stay patient, trust our process and stay focused one shot at a time. We have had a good few days of preparation and are excited to go out there and see what we can do."

K-State's lineup this week will consist of seniors Nicklaus Mason, Kobe Valociek and Cooper Schultz in addition to freshman Erik Sabelström Holmberg and junior Alex Lindstrom. Senior Ian McCrary will serve as the Wildcats' alternate.

The trio of seniors leads Kansas State in scoring average this season as Mason is at 71.52, followed by Valociek at 72.29 and Schultz at 72.56. Mason, who ranks No. 86 in the latest individual rankings, currently ranks sixth in school history in season scoring average, while his 72.25 career mark ranks third. The Shawnee, Kansas, product is just behind Schultz in career average, who is at 71.97.

Mason led the Wildcats during the 2022 Big 12 Championship when he tied for 25th place at 8-over par 224, while Schultz was the top Wildcat finisher each of the last two seasons as he tied for 12th place in 2023 and 23rd place a year ago.

Valociek, a transfer from Virginia Tech, is playing in his first Big 12 Championship. During his first season as a Wildcat, he has finished in the top 20 six times in eight stroke-play events. Valociek will look to bounce back from a tie for 56th at last week's Old Waverly Collegiate Championship, his first event coming off an injury that sidelined him the week prior.

Sabelström Holmberg and Lindstrom have been a part of each of the last two scoring lineups. A product of Stockholm, Sweden, Sabelström Holmberg tied for 26th at the Tiger Intercollegiate before a tie for 39th at last week's Old Waverly Collegiate Championship. Lindstrom had his best finish of the season when he tied for 13th place at the Tiger Intercollegiate at 4-over par 214.

Tee times on Wednesday and Thursday will be based on results. Thursday's final round will be shown live on ESPN+ beginning at 11:30 a.m., and 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.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Lindstrom

Nicklaus Mason

Ian McCrary

Cooper Schultz

Kobe Valociek

Kansas State University Athletics