Kansas State women’s golf wrapped up a wild Westbrook Invitational by shattering records. The team finished sixth place in the tournament while setting a school-record low 54-hole score of 24-under-par 840.
The previous low three-round score was 850 which K-State set in 2014. In Monday’s final round, the Wildcats shot 280, tying for the fourth-lowest in school history.
“We got off to a really hot start today, but unfortunately we just couldn’t close out the round the way we were hoping,” first-year head coach Stew Burke said in a press release. “It’s a strange feeling to be disappointed when you’ve done the best the program has ever done in terms of scoring, but it shows that progress is being made.”
Propelling K-State to its school-record score was the second round of play on Sunday in which the team carded an 11-under par 277, tying the best single-round score in team history.
“The ladies did a great job sticking to their game plan today,” Burke said in a statement on Sunday. “We knew there were birdies out there, and we just had to be patient early on, let them come to us and not force anything.
“It was great to have all five players counting in the round right up until the end, which gave us the best chance to post a low score.”
The Wildcats were positioned in third place going into Monday’s final round, but it was a wild weekend of scoring for all competitors. Rivals Kansas and Oklahoma finished first and second, respectively, as the Jayhawks shot 43 under.
K-State entered the invitational ranked No. 58 in the nation and placed ahead of two teams ranked above them: No. 43 Colorado State and No. 52 Minnesota.
Individually, Haley Vargas led the Wildcats throughout the event, setting a career-low 54-hole score of 7-under par. She tied for 18th place on the individual leaderboard and only carded two bogeys over the final two rounds.
Joining Vargas with a career-low was fellow senior Napua Glossner, whose 54-hole score of 3-under-par 213 set a personal record. Her final round of 5-under-par 67 tied a career-best and facilitated tying as the largest final-day riser, moving up to 36th place.
Also in 36th place was sophomore Noa van Beek, who tied her career-low total score of 213 which she set at last year’s Westbrook Invitational. She carded a career-low single round of 3-under-par 69 on Monday.
Junior Carla Bernat owned the Wildcats’ second-best placement on the individual scoreboard. She scored in the 60s over the first two rounds which guided her to a tie for 18th place.
Rounding out the scoring lineup was freshman Alenka Navarro in a tie for 62nd place at 3-over-par 219.
K-State will look to carry its momentum into the MountainView Collegiate on March 15-17 when the Wildcats serve as co-hosts with Missouri.
