Big 12 Match Play Shortened Due to Rain, Cats to Meet BYU for Fifth Place
Oct 13, 2026 | Men's Golf
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Kansas State men's golf team was able to finish off a tie in its match against Texas Tech on Tuesday morning, while, later in the morning, the Cats came out on top against Houston at the Big 12 Match Play Tournament held at the par-72, 7,018-yard The Country Club.Â
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After postponing the final few holes of round two due to darkness on Monday evening, K-State tied Texas Tech, 2.5-2.5. Juniors Erik Sabelström Holmberg and Fionn Dobbin led the charge for the Cats, as Sabelström Holmberg recorded a 3&1 win, while Dobbin picked up a 1 Up victory with a long birdie putt on the final hole. Along with the two wins, Ville Virkkala netted a tie due to an eagle from Texas Tech on the final hole.Â
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Sophomores Octavio Laurent and Oliver Toyer both fell in their matches against Texas Tech, falling 2 Up and 5&4, respectively. Â
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After wrapping up round two, Kansas State defeated Houston, 3-2, in Tuesday morning's third round. It was again Sabelström Holmberg and Dobbin leading the effort for K-State as both earned 3&2 wins. Laurent tacked on a win after a back-and-forth battle with a 1 Up final score to give K-State the victory.Â
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"I am really proud of the guys with how they've competed this week," said head coach Grant Robbins. "Match play is such an exciting format where the momentum can swing in any direction at any time. Fionn made a clutch birdie in the morning to clinch the tie with Texas Tech, and Octavio made a couple of huge putts on his last three holes to secure the win against Houston."Â
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Against Houston's Chi Chun, Dobbin raced out of the gate with wins on the first three holes before Chun got it back to within one through 11. However, Dobbin righted the ship with wins on the 15th and 16th holes to end the match.Â
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Sabelström Holmberg won his first two holes before Houston's Sebastian Gamboa battled back and took the lead by one through 11. Sabelström Holmberg did not falter as he netted wins on the 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th holes to earn the victory going away.Â
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Virkkala fell, 1 Up, in a closely-contested bout to Houston's Grant Doggett. Freshman Oscar Stendahl, seeing his first action of the event, lost, 4&2, despite winning five holes.Â
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The fourth round of the event scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was suspended due to weather. The Big 12 has shortened the tournament by one round and will crown co-champions after Wednesday-morning's round.Â
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"The weather has been a challenge all week with all the rain and cold conditions," Robbins said. "The course became unplayable this afternoon, so we will play one final match against BYU (on Wednesday). We are looking forward to the matchup. All of our guys are playing solid golf, so I imagine this one could come down to the wire as well. It should be fun."Â
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With the removal of the fifth round, the Wildcats will finish Big 12 Match Play in the fifth-place match against BYU after both teams finished 1-0-2 in pool play. The Cougars' three matches included a win against Utah in round one and ties against Iowa State and Arizona State in the next two rounds.Â
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The Wildcats and Cougars will tee off at 8:30 a.m. (MT). Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd.Â
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– k-statesports.com –  Â
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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.Â
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