K-State women’s golf saved its best round for last, shooting 6-under par 282 on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to finish third at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational.

The Wildcats finished the tournament at 4-over par 868 on the par-72, 6,058-yard Ocean Course at Hokuala. K-State finished just two shots behind runner-up Long Beach State and seven shots ahead of Eastern Michigan and San Diego State, who respectively tied for fourth.

The third-place finish gave K-State its second top-three result of the fall season and a strong finish heading into the offseason.

“I was proud of the way we closed out the tournament,” head coach Stew Burke said. “We showed signs of playing more like K-State golf with some really good scoring and a level of confidence and competitiveness that we expect from this group.”

Junior Nanami Nakashima helped lead the Wildcats with a 4-under par 68 in the final round. The Kani, Japan, native recorded five birdies and one bogey to climb six spots to tie for sixth at 1-under par 215. The finish marked her sixth career top-10 result and her second this season.

Junior Kelsey Chen also made a big move Wednesday. Her 3-under-par 69 lifted her 16 spots to a tie for 15th at 3-over par 219. Chen, who hails from Dalian, China, carded six birdies to offset three bogeys. She picked up momentum on the back nine with three straight birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13.

Sophomore Keen Visavapattamawan continued her consistent play with an eighth-place finish at even-par 216. The Bangkok, Thailand, native shot 2-over par 74 in the final round, earning her a second consecutive top-10 finish. She also finished 1-under par on par-4 holes, tying for fourth in that category.

Freshman Amy Wang gave K-State another under-par round, shooting 1-under par 71 on Wednesday. Wang recorded five birdies to finish 14th at 2-over par 218, marking her second straight top-15 finish.

Fellow freshman Mia Ingham finished in a tie for 48th at 12-over par 228 after carding a 3-over par 75 in the final round.

While K-State made a late push, BYU held on to win the team title at 6-under par 858. The Cougars also claimed the individual championship, with Maria Jose Barragan finishing at 8-under par 208.

Despite the strong finish, Burke said the Wildcats still have areas to address before spring.

“There is still some disappointment because we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot with a few avoidable mistakes, and we know there is another level we can reach by taking better care of those details,” Burke said.

The Wildcats look to build on their strong finish while cleaning up the mistakes that kept them from climbing higher on the leaderboard.

K-State opens its spring season Feb. 8-9 at the Arizona Thunderbird Intercollegiate at Tucson Country Club in Tucson, Arizona.