K-State women’s golf closed out the regular season solidly as the Wildcats recorded their fourth top-five finish of the 2015-16 season at the Red Raider Invitational in Lubbock, Texas, over the weekend.
The Wildcats were led by junior Katherine Gravel-Coursol, who finished just a stroke outside of the top five, recording her third top-10 finish of the season with a 1-over-par 217 over three rounds. The sixth place finish was also a career high for Gravel-Coursol.
“(Gravel-Coursol) played well, and she did a great job managing the firm, fast and windy conditions,” K-State head coach Kristi Knight said to K-State Sports. “I am proud of all the ladies. We had some tough stretches of holes that cost us some shots, but overall this was a solid effort.”
Junior Madison Talley joined Gravel-Coursol as the only other player in the top 20 for K-State. Talley finished tied for 18th with a 7-over-par 223, which marked her sixth top 20 finish of the season.
Freshman Chloe Weir just missed the top 20 by a stroke and finished tied for 23rd with an 8-over-par 224. Sophomore Connie Jaffery had the best final day out of any Wildcat, shooting a 1-over-par 73 on the day to finish the Invitational with a 10-over-par 226. Junior Paige Nelson rounded out the Wildcats, carding a 17-over-par 233.
K-State went into the final round of the Red Raider Invitational in fifth place, but thanks in part to a terrible final round by the then-leader, No. 25 BYU, the Wildcats found their way to fourth place.
“I am proud of the team for hanging in there today,” Knight said to K-State Sports. “We did not start out well for the most part, but the ladies showed grit. They competed, and we held position and picked up some nice wins over teams ranked ahead of us.”
The Wildcats finished ahead of a few ranked teams, including the afore-mentioned No. 25 BYU, No. 28 SMU and No. 50 New Mexico.
The Wildcats now have a week off before they head down to San Antonio, Texas, for the Big 12 Championship at Dominion Country Club.
