For the third time in the last four seasons, Kansas State men’s golf earned a postseason bid to the NCAA Regionals, the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Selection Committee announced last week.
The No. 10-seeded Wildcats will compete against a field of 14 teams in the Bremerton, Washington regional. It is the first time the Wildcats have earned a regional bid at least three times in a four-year stretch since being selected in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
“It’s definitely a goal of ours to be a team that is consistently in regionals, and we’ve gotten to the point now where we have made it three out of four years,” head coach Grant Robbins said. “We’ve been in discussion for six years in a row now, either making a regional or being one of the first two or three teams out. We have gotten to that point consistently, and now it’s time to take that next step.”
The Wildcats have been led this season by a trio of seniors in Nicklaus Mason, Kobe Valociek and Cooper Schultz. Mason’s scoring average this season sits at 71.68 to rank eighth in school history, while Valociek is second on the team at 72.32 and Schultz is third at 72.58.
Checking in at No. 57 in the latest National Collegiate Golf Rankings, K-State holds a team scoring average of 288.32 to rank fifth in school history, while its top-five finishes this season are tied for ninth.
The Wildcats are joined by four other Big 12 teams at the Bremerton Regional in No. 1 seed Arizona State, No. 3 Utah, No. 6 Colorado and No. 8 Kansas. But facing a handful of familiar faces, highlighted by rival Kansas, isn’t necessarily the focus, even for the Shawnee, Kansas native, Mason.
“’I’m good buddies with a lot of guys on [KU’s] team,” Mason said. “Our main focus is to go out and do what we do, whatever teams are there, we’re gonna try to perform.”
The top five teams at the NCAA Bremerton Regional and the top individual on a non-advancing team will move on to the NCAA Championship, May 23-28, at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
K-State’s last appearance in the NCAA Regional was nearly the first time the Wildcats qualified for the NCAA Championship, finishing in sixth place, just one spot shy of qualifying, in 2023.
“We’re just excited,” Robbins said. “You just can’t ever take it for granted. It’s really hard to make the NCAA tournament, and there are so many good teams and so much competition out there.”
Schultz will be playing in his third-straight NCAA Regional after competing for the Wildcats in 2023 and advancing as an individual a year ago.
The Andover, Kansas, product tied for 30th place in the 2024 NCAA Austin Regional, while Valociek tied for 46th at that site as he competed as an individual for Virginia Tech.
“We’ve got to have four solid guys, four solid scores to have a chance to make the national championship,” Schultz said. “That is the only goal. We’re all trying to make the national championship, and every team there is too.”
Mason will compete in his third postseason action as well. He tied for 32nd, and the Wildcats placed ninth in the 2022 NCAA Norman Regional. In 2023, he tied for 43rd place.
“[Qualifying as a team] was the No. 1 goal,” Mason said. “It’s not fun when you’re back at home the second week of May and don’t do anything.”
K-State will compete at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington, May 12-14, looking to earn the program’s first team trip to the national championship.
