Cats Battle Through Delay, Wet Conditions to Reside Atop Leaderboard

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following a two hour, 30 minute delay to the 2025-26 season on Monday, the Kansas State men's golf team got off to a slow start in the first round but turned it on in the afternoon as K-State is in first place midway through the second round of the Wildcat Invitational held at the par-72, 7,525-yard Colbert Hills Golf Club.

Play was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m., but lightning in the area delayed the shotgun start to 11 a.m. The 14 teams played the entire first round and were in the second half of the second 18 when play was suspended due to darkness.

The Wildcats hold an eight-shot lead heading into play on Tuesday at 2-under par. South Dakota State and Creighton are tied for second place at 6-over par, while Southern Illinois is in fourth place at 7-over par.

"It was a long day with the weather delay this morning," head coach Grant Robbins said. "We got off to a slow start, but I thought the guys did a great job of staying in it and had a pretty solid back 9 in the first round. We are playing pretty solid in this second round. We just need to come out in the morning and keep grinding away."

The Wildcats have three players tied for the individual lead at 2-under par in seniors Alex Lindstrom and Shea Harmeson and freshman Ville Virkkala, the latter of whom is competing as an individual.

Lindstrom, a native of Halmstad, Sweden, tallied three birdies in the first round en route to a score of 1-under par 71, while he is 1-under par through 15 holes in the second round. A transfer from Saginaw Valley State, Harmeson also carded a 71 in the morning thanks to four birdies and is 1-under par through 14 second-round holes.

Virkkala, a product of Espoo, Finland, produced a score of 4-under par 68 in his first collegiate round, tied for the best season-opening round by a freshman in school history and fourth best overall. He had five birdies and just four bogeys in the first round, which included a bogey-free and 2-under par front 9. Through 15 holes in the second round, Virkkala is at 2-over par as he has countered three bogeys and a double bogey with a birdie on No. 1 and an eagle on the par-4 sixth hole.

Sophomore Tyler Strong and freshman Oliver Toyer are tied for 15th place at 2-over par. A native of Olathe, Kansas, Strong carded a score of 2-over par 74 in the first round but is even par through 15 holes in the second round. Toyer, a product of Cambridgeshire, England, carded a score of 4-over par 76 in the first round before bouncing back over the first 14 holes of the second round with a bogey-free score of 2-under par.

Fionn Dobbin rounds out the scoring lineup as the sophomore is at 4-over par and tied for 24th place.

Seniors JP Roller and Ben Stoller join Virkkala as Wildcats competing as individuals as the duo is tied for 41st place at 6-over par. Sophomore Erik Sabelström Holmberg is also competing as an individual and is in 66th place at 15-over par.

The Wildcat Invitational resumes Tuesday at 8 a.m., with the completion of the second round and continuous play into the final round. Live results can be followed 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.

Kansas State University Athletics

Cats Battle Through Delay, Wet Conditions to Reside Atop Leaderboard

Players Mentioned

Fionn Dobbin

Shea Harmeson

Alex Lindstrom

JP Roller

Ben Stoller

Tyler Strong

Oliver Toyer

Ville Virkkala

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