K-State Golf Teams in Good Position After Day One

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Kansas State men's and women's golf team find themselves in the middle of the pack on their respective 10-team leaderboards following the first round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational on Monday held at the par-72 Blessings Golf Club.

The Wildcat men are in fourth place at 13-over par 301, while the women's team is in sixth place following a round of 20-over par 308. Each of the 20 combined men's and women's teams shot over par on a course that is playing 5.31 shots above par for the men and 5.89 shots over par for the women.

The Wildcat men are two shots behind a second-place tie between BYU and Louisville, while K-State is one shot ahead of fifth-place Kent State. Host school Arkansas leads after a first-round total of 5-over par 293.

"It was definitely a grind today," said men's head coach Grant Robbins. "This golf course can be relentless where if you are just a little bit off, you will pay for it. I was really proud of how we competed. We knew there would be adversity, and there was. We did a good job of just fighting through it and making sure we were focusing on the next shot. These are long days, but we will rest up tonight and get back after it again tomorrow."

Kansas State was led by senior Shea Harmeson, who is tied for seventh place at 1-over par 73. On a course where par is a good score, he made 15 pars with a birdie and two bogeys. Two shots back of Harmeson is another senior, Alex Lindstrom, who is tied for 18th place as he had two birdies on the day.

Freshmen Ville Virkkala and Oliver Toyer are tied for 20th place and 26th place, respectively, as they each had a team-high three birdies on Monday. Both players carded birdies on three-straight holes on the front 9 with Toyer's coming on Nos. 4-6 and Virkkala's coming on Nos. 5-7. Virkkala finished his round at 4-over par 76, while Toyer was one shot back.

Sophomore Fionn Dobbin is tied for 48th place at 11-over par 83.

BYU's Simon Kwon was the only player in the men's field to shoot under par on the day with a first-round total of 71.

Only five shots separate third-place Louisville and the sixth-place Wildcat women, who are three shots clear of seventh-place Missouri. Arkansas paces the women's leaderboard with a round of 2-over par 290.

"We played some good golf in spells today," women's head coach Stew Burke said. "Unfortunately, we let some silly errors stack up over the course of the round. I have to take the responsibility for the plan not being executed to the standard we are used to. I understand we are a young squad, and this was definitely a learning experience for all of us. We have a great chance to rebound tomorrow because I honestly think today's score was as high as it could have been."

Senior Noa van Beek led K-State at 1-over par 73 thanks to a pair of birdies, as the Oene, Netherlands native is in fifth place entering Tuesday's second round.

Sophomore Nanami Nakashima and freshman Keen Visavapattamawan are tied for 26th place at 6-over par 78. Sophomore Kelsey Chen shot a 7-over par 79 as she is tied for 38th place, while freshman Casey Kang – who is making her collegiate debut – is one shot back and tied for 41st place. Another freshman, Stalee Fields, is competing as an individual and is tied with Nakashima and Visavapattamawan for 26th place.

Three women tallied first-round scores in red figures, led by Avery Weed of Mississippi State at 7-under par 65.

The women's squad tees off the second round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational Tuesday morning at 9:45 a.m. before the men get going at 10:30 a.m., and both squads will begin on the first tee. Live results are available on SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd, with the men's results available here and the women's results available 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. For complete information on K-State Women's Golf, follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Chen

Fionn Dobbin

Stalee Fields

Shea Harmeson

Casey Kang

Alex Lindstrom

Nanami Nakashima

Oliver Toyer

Noa van Beek

Ville Virkkala

Keen Visavapattamawan

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