Donche-Gay, Vargas led K-State to a good start

The Wildcats settled into a solid 5 over par 293 opening round before moving up the leaderboard at 3 under par 285 in the second round. Their total is now 2-over-par 578, one stroke away from BYU in the top five.

The second-round total was K-State’s lowest of the season.

“I’m proud of the ladies,” the head coach said Kristi Knight. “We started slow, but we kept at it and went from 14th to 6th. Let’s keep climbing!”

Donche-Gay, tied for 13th at 2-under par 142, paced the Cats on the leaderboard. The senior carded a 2-under par 70 in the second round, his lowest of the season, after getting things started with an even-par 72 in the first round.

Donche-Gay becomes the first Wildcat to record multiple even-par or sub-par innings this season. It’s also the first time he’s accomplished the feat thanks to a career-low 36-hole score. Donche-Gay is aiming for the second top 20 ranking of his career in Tuesday’s final round.

It was a great start to the day for Vargas, the Wildcats’ second senior, as he shot a 2-under par 70 in the first round. The momentum continued on the front nine of the second round as he racked up four birdies to finish in the top five before slipping a bit to finish the round with a 2-over par 74.

Vargas’ first-day total is even-par 144, which is tied for 19th and the third top-20 finish of his career.

The Cats improved in the afternoon thanks in part to a strong second round Tap Glossner and Kate Tilma.

Glossner shot a 5-over-par 77 in the first round, but moved up 17 spots on the leaderboard with a 1-under-par 71 in the second round. The junior is now tied for 40th with a four-over par 148.

Kate Tilma, a freshman making his first career appearance in the scoring lineup, had a stunning 12-stroke improvement with a 2-under-par 70 in the second round after a 10-over-par 82 opening round. The Wichita, Kansas, native moved up 11 spots to 63rd at 8-over 152.

Just ahead of him in the standings Remington Isaacwhich is tied for 59th at 7 over par 151. Isaac registered a 2 over par 74 in the first round and a 5 over par 77 in the second round.

Noah Van Beek, who is competing this week as an individual, delivered a stunning performance in just his third career appearance. The freshman carded consecutive 1-over-par 73 rounds and is 29th at 2-over-par 146. A Top 30 finish would be a career best.

Leading the event by 12 strokes is No. 19 Vanderbilt at 22-under-par 554. Letizia Bagnoli of host school Florida Atlantic tops the individual leaderboard at 12-under-par 132 after consecutive 6-under-par 66 rounds.

When play resumes in sunny Boca Raton on Tuesday at 7 a.m. (CT), K-State will look for its first top-five finish since September 2021. The final round begins with a shotgun start.

Fans can follow the scoring live on Golfstat.com.