TAMPA, Fla. - The Kansas State men’s golf team fired a lower team score on Saturday (299) than they did on Friday (303), but still fell from fifth place and into sixth with the the final 18 holes to be played Sunday at the Dick Wittcoff/USF Invitational. The event is being held at The Claw on the campus of South Florida. K-State will enter the final round with a team score of 601, just four strokes behind second-place South Florida. Florida Southern College fired a 7-over 291 to seperate from the rest of the field. The Mocs hold a seven-stroke advantage over host South Florida.

“Our round wasn’t too bad,” head coach Tim Norris said. “We made our share of mistakes that took us out of contention to win, but we have a chance to move up and have a solid finish by puting four good scores together on Sunday.”

Junior Ben Kern pieced together the best round of the day for the Wildcats, as he fired an even-par round of 71 to slide up the leaderboard from 27th and into a four-way tie for sixth place. Kern (77-71148) is four strokes off the pace set by Mercer’s Brandan Price, who is 2-over for the tournament (71-73144).

Senior Matt Van Cleave dropped from a seventh place into a four-way tie for 10th. Van Cleave carded a 76 to go along with his opening-round 73 and is 8-over for the tournament at 149.

For the second consecutive day, senior Nick Schumacher fired a 75 and is tied for 14th at 9-over for the tournament (150). Playing as an individual, Kyle Yonke fell from being one-stroke back of the leader after the first 18, into a tie for 14th. Yonke carded a 78 to go along with his opening-round score of 72 and sits at 150 for the tournament.

Also competing for the Wildcats are juniors Tyler Cummins and Jonathan James. James is tied for 42nd with a score of 78-78156 (+14). Cummins is tied for 55th with a score of 81-77158.

The Wildcats conclude play at the Dick Wittcoff/USF Invitational on Sunday. For complete tournament results, please visit Kansas State’s website at www.k-statesports.com.

Men’s Collegiate Golf
Dick Wittcoff/USF Invitational
Tampa, Fla.
The Claw
Par: 71; Yardage: 6,830

Team Scores:, 1. Florida Southern, 300-291591; 2. South Florida, 300-298598; 3. Mercer, 305-294599; 4. Middle Tennessee State, 303-297600; 5. Austin Peay, 307-294601; 6. Kansas State, 303-299602; T7. Francis Mariion, 302-312614; T7. Southwest Missouri State, 306-308614; T9. Belmont Abbey, 304-315619; T9. Columbus State 302-317619; 11. Tennessee Chattanooga, 311-309620; 12. St. John’s, 316-311627; 13. Florida Atlantic, 315-314629; 14. Florida Gulf Coast, 320-316636; 15. DePaul, 320-317637.

Top Individuals: 1. Brandan Price, (Mercer) 71-73144 (+2); 2. Tim Reed, (Florida Southern) 78-67145 (+3); 3. Brian Bennett, (SMS) 73-73146 (+4); T4. Nick Bailes, (Middle Tennessee St.) 71-76147 (+5); T4. Brad Quiri, (South Florida) 73-74147 (+5).

Wildcat Individuals: T6. Ben Kern, 77-71148 (+6); T10. Matt Van Cleave, 73-76149 (+7); T14. Nick Schumacher, 75-75150 (+8); T14. *Kyle Yonke, 72-78150 (+8); T42. Jonathan James, 78-78156 (+14); T55. Tyler Cummins, 81-77158 (+16).

* Competed as an individual

K-StateSports Men's Golf

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