After finishing in eighth place as a team at the season opening tournament, the K-State men’s golf team was looking to improve in their next outing, and that is exactly what they did.
The Wildcats went to Burlington, Iowa this weekend for the Golfweek Conference Challenge at Spirit Hollow Golf Course. Over three days the team shot scores of 290-279-283, 852 total, to finish in fourth place as a team.
Iowa won the team championship shooting a team score of 842. Following in second and third places were North Carolina State shooting 845 and Idaho shooting 846. While the team improved this week, head coach Grant Robbins is still looking for improvement.
“I am really proud of the entire team this week,” Robbins said to K-State Sports. “They really played well, and it was great to see them bounce back from the disappointing last round at Duke. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but I am really pleased with where we are right now. We just have to continue to get better.”
Playing the card of a “dark horse” for the ‘Cats this weekend was freshman Jeremy Gandon. He shot 72-67-66 and tied for the individual championship at 11-under-par total. Robbins was complimentary of Gandon after the tournament.
“(Gandon) was rock solid all week,” Robbins said to K-State Sports. “He hit the ball as well as anyone I have seen in a long time. He showed tremendous poise as a freshman, and I am really happy to see him get the win.”
Oscar Spolander, sophomore, finished tied for 16th place this weekend shooting 72-69-72 and capping the weekend at 3-under-par.
Senior Kyle Weldon had the best finish two weeks ago placing fifth for K-State. Weldon struggled this weekend, though, as he shot 70-73-72 to tie for 21st with a final score of 1-under-par.
Roland Massimino and Matt Green wrapped up the scoring for K-State. Massimino went 76-70-75 shooting 5-over to tie for 42nd, while Green shot scores of 78-74-73, finishing tied for 51st at 9-over.
The next tournament for K-State will be Oct. 10-11 for the David Toms Intercollegiate at University Club in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
