Kansas State women’s golf coach Stew Burke on the Wildcats’ NCAA bid
Kansas State women’s golf coach Stew Burke talks about the Wildcats qualifying as a team for the NCAA Regional in Lexington, Ky.
The Kansas State women’s golf team rallied from a shaky start to shoot 8-under par over its final nine holes Monday to move into a second-place tie after one round of the NCAA Lexington Regional at Keene Trace Golf Club in Lexington, Kentucky.
The fifth-seeded Wildcats finished the day at even par, seven shots behind leader No. 1 seed Florida State (7-under), and tied with No. 6 Georgia Southern. The top five teams after three rounds advance to the NCAA Championship May 16-21 in Carlsbad, California.
K-State junior Noa van Beek and senior Carla Bernat both shot 2-under-par 70 and are tied for third in the individual standings. Florida State’s Mirabel Ting tops the leaderboard at 4-under 68, followed by Western Kentucky’s Julia Zigrossi at 69, while four others are tied with Bernat and van Beek in third.
The Wildcats started on hole No. 10 and struggled through the back nine, shooting 8-over par. But they battled through rainy conditions to record 11 birdies and get back to even.
“Although we stumbled a little bit over the starting line, the ladies kept their composure and fought right to the end of the round,” said K-State coach Stew Burke, whose Wildcats lead the 12-team field with 17 birdies. “This format is a marathon, not a sprint, and you can really play your way out in that first round.
“Tomorrow is a moving day, where we hope to close the gap on the team ahead of us and pull away from those behind us. However, we will be focused on the task at hand, which is posting a great second-round score to put us in position for the final round.”
K-State’s first-round score of 288 was its best ever in an NCAA regional, topping the previous standard of 297 in 2016 in Athens, Georgia. The Wildcats are one shot clear of fourth-place Southern California and four in front of TCU in fifth place, while Louisville at 5-over and Morehead State at plus-6 are knocking on the door for a top five spot.
For K-State, in addition to Bernat and van Beek, sophomore Alenka Navarro shot 1-over-par 73, freshman Nanami Nakashima 3-over 75 and Big 12 individual champion Sophie Bert an 80.
The Wildcats start their second round at 7 a.m. central on hole No. 1 and are grouped with USC and Georgia Southern.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
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