Kansas State men’s golf competed in its second tournament of the fall slate, placing eighth at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.
Through the opening two rounds, K-State was in ninth place before a final round of 2-under par on Tuesday allowed the Wildcats to move up a spot.
“I thought we played pretty well [Tuesday],” head coach Grant Robbins said to K-State Athletics. “The course was set up pretty tough with the rough and hole locations, and I felt like everyone played solid. We had a few too many three-putts, and we just gave away too many shots the first couple of rounds.”
Senior Luke O’Neill guided the Wildcats from the start, carding two 69-stroke performances in the opening two rounds. He dropped one stroke in the third and final round, finishing at 5-under par in a tie for 12th place.
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Following O’Neill was junior Cooper Schultz who posted a 69-73-72 mark. Playing as the Wildcats No. 1 in the lineup, Schultz totaled out at 2-under par in 18th place.
Fellow junior Nicklaus Mason trailed Schultz by a stroke, placing him in a tie for 24th. The Shawnee-native had to bounce back after opening with a 76 and 71-stroke total. He notched the Wildcats’ lowest single-round of the tournament on Tuesday with a 68, 4-under-par tally.
The Wildcats’ pair of transfers, Alex Lindstrom and JP Roller, also saw improvement during the final round. Lindstrom finished tied for 68th at 8-over par while Roller earned a tie for 86th place at 12-over.
New Mexico, the host school, earned the tournament title after edging out Texas Tech by three strokes. Amongst the 20-team field, K-State finished above 2023 postseason-qualified teams Colorado, San Diego and TCU.
“Overall, this was a good experience for us,” Robbins said. “It was good to go up against a strong field on a difficult golf course this early in the season. There were a lot of positives, but it also showed a lot of areas in which we need to improve.”
K-State will be back in action at the Big 12 Match Play Championship in Houston on Oct. 9-11. The Wildcats will look to improve upon its 6th-place finish in conference match play last fall.
