Saturday, October 3
Fayetteville, Ark.
Kansas State University
vs
Blessings Collegiate Invitational
Wildcats Look to Ride Momentum at Blessings Collegiate Invitational
Oct 02, 2026 | Women's Golf
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Fresh off an 18-shot victory earlier this week at the Powercat Classic, the Kansas State women's golf team travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to compete in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, Saturday through Monday, at the par-72, 6,503-yard Blessings Golf Club.
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This is the third-straight year the Wildcats will take part in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, an event in which the K-State men's golf team also participates as both squads go up against eight other programs. The Wildcats finished in fourth place last year at 38-over par 902, while they finished in fifth place two seasons ago at 45-over par 909.
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"We are looking forward to returning to the Blessings," head coach Stew Burke said. "It is truly a great test of golf. Our home at Colbert Hills certainly helps us prepare for the narrow fairways and large, undulating, firm greens. We return three players that have seen the course before, so that is a definite advantage, and our two new faces are coming off of a solid performance at our home event. Putting together a really good game plan, having the patience to stick with it and not being rattled by the firm, fast greens is going to be paramount to our success this week. We look forward to challenging ourselves on a postseason-style golf course."
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The field for the women's side of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational consists of Alabama, host-school Arkansas, Cincinnati, Kent State, Minnesota, North Texas, Princeton and Rice.
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Kansas State will utilize the lineup of juniors Kelsey Chen and Nanami Nakashima, sophomore Keen Visavapattamawan, senior Julia Ballester Barrio and freshman Amy Wang.
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Chen is coming off a historic performance earlier this week at Colbert Hills, as she earned her second-career victory with a school-record 54-hole score of 201. She broke the previous program record by one shot and became the first player in school history to shoot in the 60s for all three rounds of a tournament.
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A native of Dalian, China, Chen lowered her season scoring average by nearly three shots per round, as she currently ranks second on the team with a 71.89 mark. Last year at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, Chen tied for 13th place at 10-over par 226.
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Nakashima was the only other competitor in the Powercat Classic field to finish under par, posting a runner-up score of 1-under par 215. The Kani, Japan, native leads the Wildcats with a 71.11 scoring average over nine rounds this season, while her 73.00 career average currently ranks second in program history. She is looking for a second-straight top-20 finish in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational after tying for 17th place last year with a 54-hole score of 12-over par 228.
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Visavapattamawan is part of the scoring lineup for a second-straight event after tying for 13th place in the Powercat Classic at 8-over par 224. She enters play this weekend with the third-best scoring average on the team at 72.50 thanks in part to a score of 1-over par 211 in her season debut at the Schooner Fall Classic. She tied for 17th place alongside Nakashima at last year's Blessing Collegiate Invitational.
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Playing as an individual, Ballester Barrio joined Chen and Nakashima in the top 10 earlier this week at Colbert Hills, tying for fourth place at 2-over par 218. It was the second-best placing of her career, just one spot shy of the tie for third place she put together during her freshman season.
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Wang is part of the scoring lineup for a fourth-straight event to begin her rookie campaign, holding a 74.56 scoring average. She is coming off the best finish of her young career earlier this week when she tied for 30th place at 12-over par 228.
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The Wildcats begin play at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational on Saturday morning with tee times starting at 9:15 a.m. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.
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This is the third-straight year the Wildcats will take part in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, an event in which the K-State men's golf team also participates as both squads go up against eight other programs. The Wildcats finished in fourth place last year at 38-over par 902, while they finished in fifth place two seasons ago at 45-over par 909.
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"We are looking forward to returning to the Blessings," head coach Stew Burke said. "It is truly a great test of golf. Our home at Colbert Hills certainly helps us prepare for the narrow fairways and large, undulating, firm greens. We return three players that have seen the course before, so that is a definite advantage, and our two new faces are coming off of a solid performance at our home event. Putting together a really good game plan, having the patience to stick with it and not being rattled by the firm, fast greens is going to be paramount to our success this week. We look forward to challenging ourselves on a postseason-style golf course."
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The field for the women's side of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational consists of Alabama, host-school Arkansas, Cincinnati, Kent State, Minnesota, North Texas, Princeton and Rice.
Â
Kansas State will utilize the lineup of juniors Kelsey Chen and Nanami Nakashima, sophomore Keen Visavapattamawan, senior Julia Ballester Barrio and freshman Amy Wang.
Â
Chen is coming off a historic performance earlier this week at Colbert Hills, as she earned her second-career victory with a school-record 54-hole score of 201. She broke the previous program record by one shot and became the first player in school history to shoot in the 60s for all three rounds of a tournament.
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A native of Dalian, China, Chen lowered her season scoring average by nearly three shots per round, as she currently ranks second on the team with a 71.89 mark. Last year at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, Chen tied for 13th place at 10-over par 226.
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Nakashima was the only other competitor in the Powercat Classic field to finish under par, posting a runner-up score of 1-under par 215. The Kani, Japan, native leads the Wildcats with a 71.11 scoring average over nine rounds this season, while her 73.00 career average currently ranks second in program history. She is looking for a second-straight top-20 finish in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational after tying for 17th place last year with a 54-hole score of 12-over par 228.
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Visavapattamawan is part of the scoring lineup for a second-straight event after tying for 13th place in the Powercat Classic at 8-over par 224. She enters play this weekend with the third-best scoring average on the team at 72.50 thanks in part to a score of 1-over par 211 in her season debut at the Schooner Fall Classic. She tied for 17th place alongside Nakashima at last year's Blessing Collegiate Invitational.
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Playing as an individual, Ballester Barrio joined Chen and Nakashima in the top 10 earlier this week at Colbert Hills, tying for fourth place at 2-over par 218. It was the second-best placing of her career, just one spot shy of the tie for third place she put together during her freshman season.
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Wang is part of the scoring lineup for a fourth-straight event to begin her rookie campaign, holding a 74.56 scoring average. She is coming off the best finish of her young career earlier this week when she tied for 30th place at 12-over par 228.
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The Wildcats begin play at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational on Saturday morning with tee times starting at 9:15 a.m. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.
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– k-statesports.com –
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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.
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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.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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