The 29th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats were in California for the Yale Invitational West, where K-State finished in fourth place after a third-round showing of 15 over par, dropping them down and keeping them out of competing for the top spot.
The final round was tough on all teams at the invitational as six of the 10 teams shot at least 10 over par, leading to some staggering final numbers on the scorecard. The Wildcats, who had successful rounds one and two, ended up with a final total score of nine over par. The team that jumped K-State was Virginia Tech, which shot four under in the final round.
“Today was obviously disappointing; however, I cannot fault the effort and trying to get something going throughout the round,” K-State head coach Stew Burke said. “Sometimes you have runs like these. However, the ultimate responsibility falls on me to make sure that it does not happen again. I am disappointed for the ladies, but it has been a long time since we played like this.”
The Wildcats opened the invitational with a score of four under par and were sitting in fourth place early on. In round two, when seven of the 10 teams shot over par, K-State stayed solid and finished with the second-best score in the round at two under, moving up to third place and just three shots back from first.
“We really didn’t have our best stuff with us on the 36-hole day, but most importantly, we hung in there and kept ourselves within striking distance going into the final round,” Burke said. “This was a tough golf course that can penalize poor decision-making.”
(Payton Lee)
The No. 10-ranked team in the nation, Pepperdine, led the way in the tournament, shooting 15 under for the whole tournament and an impressive seven under par final round to secure the win. Coming in second was Kansas, which shot 13 under and also had a good final round of six under par.
The top individual finisher for K-State was Nanami Nakashima, who finished in 18th place with an outing of three over par. The top 20 finish was Nakashima’s sixth in the eight events so far this season.
Finishing right behind Nakashima was Kelsey Chen in 19th place with a final score of four under par. Freshman Casey Kang finished in 25th place at six over par, and Keen Visavapattamawan rounded out the Wildcats’ scorecard in 39th place with a final score of 14 over par.
While conditions may have been tough for the players, it was good preparation for some of the teams they may have to compete against in the future. Playing tougher courses now can help K-State later in regional and possible championship play.
“This course is a perfect test for our players as this is the level of difficulty we are going to face in the coming weeks and throughout the postseason,” Burke said.
The Wildcats have one more tournament before they enter the competitive Big 12 championship in Dallas, Texas. However, K-State will first wrap up its season at the Silicon Valley Showcase held March 29-31.
