K-State in Sixth After Two Rounds in Texas

CORINTH, Texas – Led by senior Noa van Beek and sophomore transfer Kelsey Chen, the Kansas State women's golf team is at 13-under par 563 to reside in sixth place following the first two rounds of the Sam Golden Invitational on Monday at the par-72, 6,343-yard Oakmont Country Club.

The Wildcats put together a first-round total of 10-under par 278, their best season-opening round in program history. It was six shots better than the previous record of 284 in the 2021 version of the Sam Golden Invitational held at Wildhorse GC in Denton, Texas. However, K-State could not keep its momentum despite another under-par round in the afternoon at 3-under 285.

"It was a bit of a strange one today. The ladies came out of the gate hot and did a really good job during the first round," said head coach Stew Burke, whose team leads the field by going a collective 14-under par on the par 5s and is tied for fourth with 36 total birdies. "However, we couldn't continue the momentum into the second round and seemed a bit flat as we finished. Overall, you cannot be disappointed with double digits under par through two rounds."

van Beek and Chen enter the final round tied for 12th place at 4-under par 140. They both went under par in each round on Monday, four of K-State's 10 individual rounds in red numbers on the day.

A product of Oene, Netherlands, van Beek's first-round total of 3-under par 69 was two shots shy of a career best. She ended the day with a new career-best 36-hole score, bettering a two-round total of 141 she produced as a freshman at the Westbrook Invitational thanks to going 5-under on the par 5s.

Chen, a transfer from Georgia Southern, carded a 2-under par 70 in each round and is tied for sixth in the field with nine birdies over her first 36 holes as a Wildcat.

Freshman Stalee Fields has begun her collegiate career on a high note as she is tied for 22nd place at 3-under par 141. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Fields came out firing with a 4-under par 68 in her first collegiate round, a school record for a season-opening round by a freshman and tied for the third-lowest season-opening round in school history. Her first-round score included a bogey-free and 4-under par front 9 before carding a score of 1-over par 73 in the second round.

Sophomore Nanami Nakashima is tied for 28th place at 2-under par 142 thanks to identical scores of 71 on Monday. She is tied with freshman Keen Visavapattamawan, who also carded a pair of 71s on Monday while playing as an individual.

Junior Alenka Navarro is tied for 56th place with a 36-hole score of 3-over par 147. The Mexico City, Mexico, product went under par in the first round with a score of 71, but a 4-over par 76 showing in the afternoon dropped her down the leaderboard.

Missouri holds the 36-hole lead at 24-under par 552, which included a second-round score of 17-under par 271. The Tigers have the top individual as well in Ebba Liljeberg, who leads by nine shots at 17-under par 127.

"I know there is a lot more to come from this group," Burke said. "We can put the second round down to a little bit of growing pains. The most important thing for Coach Rinko (Mitsunaga) and I is to make sure that the ladies come out refreshed tomorrow and keep the pedal down right until the end."

The final round of the Sam Golden Invitational begins with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on Tuesday. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.

– k-statesports.com –

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Women'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

Kelsey Chen

Stalee Fields

Nanami Nakashima

Alenka Navarro

Noa van Beek

Keen Visavapattamawan

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