WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Kansas State Athletics) – The Kansas State men’s golf team picked up its second tournament championship in as many tries as the Wildcats held onto their lead throughout Tuesday’s final round at the Old Town Collegiate to win the title at 12-under par 828.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said head coach Grant Robbins. “This was a big win. It wasn’t pretty and I thought the pressure got to us a little bit on the back nine, but they found a way. It’s always better to learn from a win.”
The Wildcats’ final round of 4-over par 284 wasn’t perfect, but they came up clutch enough times throughout to come away with a one-stroke victory over host-school Wake Forest.
After winning the Wildcat Invitational two weeks ago, K-State has now won back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 2009. It’s also the first time they’ve opened a season with consecutive victories since 1983.
This is the fourth team title of the Robbins era.
“What I’m most proud of is how all five players contributed. That was the difference this week,” said Robbins.
Robbins is correct. All five Wildcats in the lineup — Cooper Schultz, Will Hopkins, Nicklaus Mason, Tim Tillmanns, and Laurenz Schiergen — did their part, and in a rare effort they all finished with the exact same score of 1-under par 209, each of them tied for 16th place.
It’s the first time that feat has ever happened in school history.
Tillmanns fired a 2-under par 68 final round to lead K-State down the stretch. The performance jumped him nine spots on the leaderboard and was necessary for K-State to ensure the championship.
Perhaps the most important shot of the day came from Schultz, as he was faced with a two-foot par putt to seal the victory. The short putt was calmly executed to close the door on late rallies from both Furman and Wake Forest.
Schultz, who was coming off an individual title at the Wildcat Invitational, carded a 2-over par 72 third round to continue his great start to the season.
Mason and Schiergen also carded 2-over par 72 third rounds. This is the sixth top-20 finish for Mason and the fifth for Schiergen.
Hopkins shot a 3-over par 73 third round after struggling on the back nine, but the veteran rallied for two crucial pars on his final two holes.
This is another exciting accomplishment to start the season for Kansas State, which will hope to carry this momentum into the rest of its fall slate.
On October 10-11, the Wildcats will compete at the Oregon State Invitational before concluding 2022 testing their talent against their Big 12 peers on October 17-19 in the Big 12 Match Play Championship.
