LOXLEY, Ala. (K-State Athletics) – Kansas State senior men’s golfer Nicklaus Mason tallied a final-round total of 3-under par 69 on Sunday en route to his second championship of the season as he won the individual title at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational held at the par-72, 7,096-yard Steelwood Country Club.
Mason earned a four-shot victory with a 54-hole score of 17-under par 199, which tied for the third-lowest score in program history and was the lowest in the seven-year history of the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational. He is the first Wildcat to win multiple individual titles in a season since Jeremy Gandon won the Hawkeye Invitational and Big 12 Championship in 2017.
As a team, K-State finished in third place at 18-under par 846 – including a 4-under par 284 on Sunday – during its final event of the fall season. It was the Wildcats’ second top-three finish this year after winning the Wildcat Invitational.
“I am really proud of how Nick played this week,” head coach Grant Robbins said. “He just played some phenomenal golf going 17-under and securing a tournament-record win. It was getting tight, and he showed tremendous poise by making birdies on the final three holes to get the win and help our team secure third place. Cooper (Schultz) was also really solid this week. Overall, it was a good finish for the team, and there were a lot of positives as we head into the offseason.”
Mason held a slim margin in the latter stages of the final round as he tried to hold off a charge from Clemson’s Andrew Swanson, who went 8-under par in the final round. However, Mason, the Shawnee, Kansas, product, birdied four of the final five holes – including each of the final three – to give him his third-straight round in the 60s and fifth of the season.
Fellow senior Cooper Schultz also tallied his third-straight under-par round on Sunday as he went 4-under par 68 to improve two spots into fifth place at 9-under par 207. A native of Andover, Kansas, Schultz registered the low number thanks to going 6-under par over the final 10 holes, which included an eagle on No. 9. It was his best 54-hole score of the season, while it was his second top-five finish of the season after tying for second place at the Wildcat Invitational.
The Wildcats also received a top-15 performance from senior Ian McCrary, who was competing as an individual. The Overland Park, Kansas, product posted a career-best round of 6-under par 66 to climb 20 spots up the leaderboard to a tie for 12th place at 5-under par 211, which was also the lowest 54-hole score of his career.
Freshman Erik Sabelström Holmberg turned in a score of even-par 72 on Sunday to rise four spots to a tie for 43rd place at 3-over par 219. Senior Kobe Valociek tied for 56th place at 7-over par 223, two shots ahead of Fionn Dobbin, who tied for 63rd place.
Next action for the Wildcats is the Hal Williams Collegiate, February 10-11, at Magnolia Grove Golf Club in Mobile, Alabama.
