The Cats took the top spot in the Big 12 Championship

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The 24th-ranked Kansas State men’s golf team posted a 2-over-par 281 score Wednesday in the final round of the 2023 Big 12 Championship at the par-70, 7,025-yard Prairie Dunes Country Club.

The Wildcats maintained their seventh-place finish on the leaderboard, finishing the 72-hole championship with a 41-over-par 1.161. Their 2-over par on Wednesday was the fourth lowest of the day.

K-State improved its team score in each round of the tournament, while all five Wildcats improved their individual standings in the final round.

“They played really well today,” the head coach Grant Robbins said. “I’m proud of how they fought back. We just dug ourselves too big a hole on the first day. Hopefully we can use that momentum heading into regionals.”

Second year student Cooper Schultz improved seven spots on the leaderboard during the final round to a tie for 12th at 8-over 288 after Wednesday’s 1-over-par 71. His 72-hole score of 288 was the fourth-lowest in school history, while his 12th-place finish was the best at a Wildcat Big 12 Championship since Jeremy Gandon and Roland Massimino tied for eighth in 2019.

The Wildcats’ low rounds of the day belonged to the juniors Luke O’Neill and older Will Hopkins even-par 70. At Connemara, Ireland, O’Neill recorded three birdies on the day to help him finish 72 holes with a 9-over-par 289 and 15th place, an eight-point jump. Tuesday. Hopkins jumped seven spots on the leaderboard to finish 21st at 11-over par with a 291.

Senior Tim Tillmans tied for 29th at 14-over-par 294 when he turned in a one-over-par 71 on Wednesday. His final finish was a four-point improvement from third in the round.

Second year student Nicklaus Mason moved up three spots in the final round to tie for 36th at 20-over-par 300. He carded a 3-over par 73 on Wednesday, his best round at the event.

Well. 10 Oklahoma earned a wire-to-wire victory at 1-under par 1119 as the Sooners finished 18 shots ahead of TCU, which moved up three spots on the final day to finish second. Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, the nation’s second-ranked player, took the individual title at 15-under par 265, eight shots better than the next best player.

Kansas State will find out its NCAA Regional assignment next Wednesday, May 3 at 12 PM (CT) College Central on the GOLF channel. The Wildcats advance to one of the six spots and play in the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 2008 and 2009.