A pair of Wildcat golfers head to postseason play for the second consecutive year, competing in their respective NCAA Regional assignments after strong individual seasons.
Junior Carla Bernat, Kansas State women’s golf’s leader in scoring average, was selected as the top-ranked individual in the 2024 NCAA Bryan Regional, hosted at Texas A&M’s Traditions Club May 6-8.
“We are delighted for Carla to have an opportunity to compete at the NCAA Bryan Regional,” first-year head coach Stew Burke said to K-State Athletics. “She has had a really impressive season with two individual wins, which is more than a lot of players have in their whole career.”
Bernat’s two titles sprouted from the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational in early October and the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in March. Her 66 stroke tally during the second round of the Westbrook Invitational tied for fourth-best in school history for an individual round.
Last year, Bernat made the postseason alongside her teammates at Tulane. The junior transferred to K-State alongside Burke, who was hired from the Green Wave.
Despite gaining immense ground in national rankings, the Wildcats were not selected as a team this year.
“Although she will miss her teammates in Texas, we know the future of the program is extremely bright, and we look forward to returning the group to the postseason next year,” Burke said. “However, for now, our main focus will be putting a plan together for the Traditions Club and making it to the national championship in California.”
Bernat’s Bryan Regional is one of six sites, each having 12 teams and six individuals. Each region sends the top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team to the national championship, May 17-22, at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
Junior Cooper Schultz was selected as the fourth-ranked individual to compete at the NCAA Austin Regional in the men’s bracket. He’ll play at the University of Texas’ private club May 13-15.
This marks the second consecutive year in the postseason for Schultz, as the Wildcats earned a team bid last year. Senior Luke O’Neill advanced to the NCAA Championship round after the regional round.
“I’m really excited for Cooper to have the opportunity to keep competing,” head coach Grant Robbins said to K-State Athletics. “He has worked hard and improved every year, and I’m really proud of how he’s grown both as a person and as a player. I’m also excited that he gets to go to Austin and play at the UT Club. I think it’s a course that fits his game very well.”
For the men’s regionals, the sites consist of 13 teams and 10 individuals. Still, the top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team will advance to play in the NCAA Championship, May 24-29, also at Omni La Costa Resort.
