Cats in Top Half Through 36 Holes in Utah

COALVILLE, Utah – The Kansas State men's golf team put together a 36-hole score of 13-over par 581 on Monday to sit in fifth place following the first two rounds of The Wohali at the par-71, 7,873-yard Wohali Club.

The Wildcats were one of five teams in the 14-team field to go under par in the first round as they recorded a 3-under par 281. However, blustery conditions picked up in the mountains in the afternoon as K-State went 16-over par 300 over the second 18 holes. Kansas State holds a six-shot lead on sixth-place Colorado State, while the Wildcats are 10 shots behind fourth-place BYU.

"It was kind of an up and down day," head coach Grant Robbins said. "I thought we played really well in round one, especially on the back 9. In the afternoon, the wind really picked up. With the speed and firmness of the greens, the course played extremely difficult. We are in a good position going into tomorrow. We just have to keep a one-shot-at-time mindset, play smart and minimize the mental mistakes, and we'll see where we stack up at the end of the day."

K-State is led through 36 holes by a pair of players who are tied for 10th at 1-over par 143 in senior Alex Lindstrom and freshman Ville Virkkala. Lindstrom, a native of Halmstad, Sweden, was consistent over his two rounds, posting a 1-under par 70 in the morning round before carding a 2-over par 73 in the afternoon, the latter of which featured an eagle on the par-5 4th hole.

A product of Espoo, Finland, Virkkala put together a first-round score of 5-under par 66, which included a bogey-free and 5-under par front 9 with birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 9. His round tied for the fourth lowest in school history by a freshman, one shot shy of the record held by three other players and most recently accomplished by Cooper Schultz in the Old Town Collegiate in September 2021. Virkkala was unable to keep the momentum going in the second round as he turned in a score of 6-over par 77.

Senior transfer Shea Harmeson is right behind Lindstrom and Virkkala at 2-over par 144 and tied for 18th place. A transfer from Saginaw Valley State, Harmeson went even par 71 in the first round thanks to a bogey-free and 2-under par back 9 before shooting a 2-over par 73 over the second 18 holes.

Fionn Dobbin and Tyler Strong, both sophomores, rounded out K-State's scoring lineup on the first day, as Dobbin is tied for 44th place at 9-over par 151 and Strong is tied for 63rd place at 17-over par 159.

Freshman Oliver Toyer and senior JP Roller are playing in a separate individual tournament, the Soldier Hollow Individual held at the par-72, 7,719-yard Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway, Utah. Toyer is tied for 38th place at 8-over par 152, which included a second-round score of 1-over par 73. Roller is tied for 47th place at 11-over par 155.

The final round of The Wohali will be contested on Tuesday. Live results can be followed here, while results of the Soldier Hollow Individual can be followed here.

– 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

Fionn Dobbin

Shea Harmeson

Alex Lindstrom

JP Roller

Cooper Schultz

Tyler Strong

Oliver Toyer

Ville Virkkala

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