Dates: Oct. 6-7

Par: 71

Yardage: 7,047

Total Holes: 54

Format: 36 holes Mon., 18 holes Tue. Both days of play begin with an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start.

The Field: (9) Kansas State, Arkansas State, Iowa State, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), Missouri, SE Louisiana, Texas-San Antonio, Wisconsin

The Nestle Purina Classic Lineup

Name Yr-Exp Rnds. Avg.
Aaron Watkins Sr-3L 7 72.5
A.J. Elgert Sr-3L 7 76.0
Matt Van Cleave Jr-1L 7 74.0
Josh Persons So-1L 7 74.8
Ben Kern So-1L 2 73.0

Individual competitor - TBA

On the Road Again

After hosting the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate Sept. 29-30, the Kansas State men's golf team will travel to St. Charles, Mo. for Nestle Purina Classic, where it will compete for the fifth consecutive year. The tournament is hosted by the University of Missouri and will take place at the par-71, 7,047-yard Missouri Bluffs Golf Club. The Wildcats have had their share of mishaps at the Purina Classic, placing no higher than eighth-place back in 2001 when there were 15 teams in the field.

2002 at the Purina

K-State struggled to keep pace with all of the low scoring that took place last year. As a team, the Wildcats fired a 301-286-285873, placing them in ninth out of 14 teams. After carding a disappointing 301 in the first round, the Wildcats found themselves in last place and had no where to go but up. Individually, Aaron Watkins paced the Wilcats carding a 72-71-67210 to finish in 12th-place at 3-under par for the tournament. Illinois took home the team title with a 16-under par 836 and Drew Dalziel of Iowa State was the medalist after turning in a 8-under par total of 205.

Cat Fight

K-State will attempt to take the outright lead in the season series between Missouri and the Wildcats. K-State got the best of MU at the Inverness Intercollegiate, but the Tigers bounced back and took home the team title in the rain-shortened Colbert Intercollegiate. K-State will attempt to go into Tiger country and return the favor at the Purina Classic.

The Field

The Purina Classic gives the Wildcats a chance to take on some familiar and some unfamiliar foes. K-State will see Missouri for the third time this season and for the third straight tournament. The Wildcats will also take on Wisconsin for the second time of the season. K-State finished second in the Badgers' season opening tournament, while Wisconsin came in a tie for sixth-place. The rest of the field will possess an element of unknown. Iowa State is the third and final member of the Big 12 that will play in the Purina Classic. The rest of the field is rounded out by Arkansas State, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), SE Louisiana, Texas-San Antonio.

Last Time Out

K-State had to deal with its second tournament of the season being shortened to 36 holes. The third round of the Colbert Intercollegiate was washed out, leaving the Wildcats with only one 54-hole tournament. The season opening Badger Invitational also had its final round cancelled. At the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate the team title was won by Missouri, which posted a even par 576, 10 stokes ahead of the third-place Wildcats. Senior Aaron Watkins, once again, paced K-State as he fired a 70-73143 to finish in a tie for third-place at 1-under par. Also placing in the top-10 for K-State were senior A.J. Elgert, junior Matt Van Cleave and sophomore Ben Kern. The three all posted identical totals of 2-over par 146 to tie for ninth-place. Austin Hackett of SW Missouri State was the medalist after carding a 4-under par 71-69140.

K-State on the Move

As the early season polls start to come out, the Wildcats are getting much deserved national respect. In this week's Golfweek/Sagarin poll (Oct. 1), K-State checked in at No. 20. In the first poll of the year released by golfstat (Sept. 30), K-State is ranked No. 8.

Scintillating September

Senior Aaron Watkins turned in an impressive month, pacing the Wildcats, as he finished no worse than fourth-place in all three of K-State's tournaments. The 2002-03 All-Big 12 selection has a stroke average of 72.5, which leads the way for the Wildcats. Watkins is also receiving national attention, ranking No. 31 in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings (Oct. 1).