KAPOLEI, O’ahu, Hawai’i (K-State Athletics) – The Kansas State women’s golf team had three players in red numbers on Tuesday, helping the Wildcats move five spots up the leaderboard into a tie for first place during the second round of the Rainbow Wahine Invitational held at the par-72, 6,231-yard Kapolei Golf Club.
K-State turned in a second-round score of 11-under par 277, tied for the second-best round in school history. The Wildcats enter Wednesday’s final round tied with Colorado State with a 36-hole score of 12-under par 564.
K-State was able to turn in the low number thanks to under-par rounds from Carla Bernat, Nanami Nakashima and Sophie Bert. Bernat recorded a 5-under par 67, just ahead of Nakashima and 4-under par 68, while Bert recorded a 2-under par 70.
“We got off to a much better start today by making some birdies early on to give us momentum for the round,” head coach Stew Burke said. “It got windy in the middle part of the round, but the ladies dug in well and were able to give themselves some chances coming in. A great round from Nanami and Carla was backed up by Sophie in the No. 3 spot. This is a course we can go low on, so we must continue with our game plan to make sure we maintain or improve our position.”
Bernat moved four spots up the leaderboard into second place at 8-under par 136 following her bogey-free round. It was her fifth round in the 60s this year and 30th of her career, while she began a tournament with two-straight rounds in the 60s for the first time since winning the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic last March. She enters the final round just one shot back of Colorado State’s Lacey Uchida.
Nakashima was the Wildcats’ biggest mover of the day as she jumped 35 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 10th place at 2-under par 142. Her season-low score of 67 on Tuesday was tied for the sixth-best round ever by a Wildcat freshman as she tallied six birdies over the 18 holes.
Bert improved 14 positions on the leaderboard into a tie for 15th place at 1-under par 143. She countered a pair of bogeys with four pars on the round, including a clean 2-under par back 9.
Sophomore Alenka Navarro shot even-par 72 on Tuesday, improving five spots to a tie for 24th place at 1-over par 145. Junior Noa van Beek carded a 2-over par 74 during the second round, and she will begin the final 18 holes tied for 32nd place at 2-over par 146.
The final round of the Rainbow Wahine Invitational on Wednesday tees off at 9 a.m. HT (2 p.m. CT) shotgun start. Live results are available on SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd.
