Kansas State women’s golf competed in its second tournament of the year and finished in seventh place, finishing at even par for the entire tournament.
The Wildcats finished just three shots behind Florida State, who came in sixth, but were five shots ahead of the eighth-place finisher, the Houston Cougars.
On day one, the Wildcats got off to a rough start, shooting five over par, but bounced back quickly and finished day two at six under par, getting them back into the tournament.
“We battled well all day, but we made too many mistakes towards the end of both rounds,” K-State head coach Stew Burke said.
On Sunday, Sept. 21, the Wildcats were looking to make a push towards the top of the standings, but weather conditions made things tough on the ‘Cats, and the team wasn’t able to gain any ground as they finished at one over for the round.
“Today was tough from the start due to the rain and wind,” Burke said. “We never really got any momentum going and seemed to trade birdies and bogeys amongst the team for most of the day, so it was fitting that we ended the round at 1-over.”
Fellow Big 12 school Oklahoma State finished in first at the tournament, shooting 18 under, while other Big 12 schools, TCU, Iowa State and UCF all finished within the top five of the tournament as well.
“We are a young team that is gaining valuable experience against good teams,” Burke said. “It is obviously exciting as a coach to watch your team get into position, and it will be on Coach Rinko [Mitsunaga] and I in the coming weeks to make sure we better prepare them to finish out their rounds.”
Leading the way individually for the ‘Cats was Nanami Nakashima, who finished in 11th place, shooting three under for the entire tournament.
Nakashima shot a bogey-free final round of four under par at 66, which is a new career high for her, beating her old mark of 67. Her big final round moved her up 18 spots and left her just outside a top 10 finish.
Additional Wildcats included Stalee Fields, who finished at 28th place, Noa van Beek, who finished at 37th place and Kelsey Chen, who finished in 52nd place.
The Wildcats’ next tournament is Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 in Fayetteville, Ark., where they will compete in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational.
