MANHATTAN, Kan. -   Coming off a second-consecutive fourth-place finish, the Kansas State men’s golf team will play back-to-back tournaments for the first time this year as they head to Fairfax, Calif. for the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. It is the second time in as many years that the Wildcats will play in the Alister MacKenzie. The tournament tees off with a shotgun start to 36 holes on Monday. K-State’s final round tee time on Tuesday is based on their placing through 36 holes. There are no live stats available for this tournament. Results will be posted on www.kstatesports.com as soon as they are available.

THE COURSE: The University of California and the par-71, 6,583-yard Meadow Club hosts this year’s Alister MacKenzie Invitational. For more information on The Meadow Club, please visit www.meadowclub.com.

THE FIELD (15): California, Cal-Poly, Fresno State, Hawaii, Kansas State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, San Jose State, San Francisco, Stanford, UC-Irvine, Washington State, and Wichita State.

LAST TIME OUT:  K-State recorded its second-consecutive fourth-place finish at the Memphis Intercollegiate. The Wildcats fired a combined team score of 294-294-296884 (+20), to finish eight strokes behind of champion Memphis. Tyler Cummins led the way for the Wildcats, carding a 72-73-73218 (+2), good enough to tie for eighth. Freshman Robert Streb continued the hot start to his collegiate career, tying for 16th after a 72-77-72221 (+5) peformance. Kyle Yonke recorded his best placing since his first collegiate tournament when he tied for 22nd after carding a six-over 222.

LAST YEAR AT THE ALISTER MacKENZIE:  Nearly one year ago (Oct. 11-12) K-State made the treck to Fairfax, Calif. to participate in the 2004 Alister MacKenzie Invitational. The Wildcats came away with a fifth-place finish after carding a 292-280-287859 (+7). The team’s second round score of 280 is tied for the sixth-lowest team round in school history. Ben Kern led the way for the Cats, carding a one-over 214 (73-71-70, 11th place), which is tied for the eighth-lowest individual 54-hole in school history. Five shots behind Kern was Jonathan James, who tied for 14th.

STREB OFF TO QUICKEST FRESHMAN START IN NORRIS ERA: Freshman starters have been somewhat of a rarity during the Tim Norris era. Only four true freshman have participated in the first three tournaments of the year prior to the 2005-06 season. Robert Streb accomplished that feat after his 72-77-72221 (+5) performance at the Memphis Intercollegaite, which he tied for sixth. However, none of the other four were able to record the stroke average Streb has amassed through the first three tournaments (73.67). The other four were Clay Hodge in 2004 (75.67), Josh Persons in 2002 (76.78), Aaron Watkins in 2000 (76.11), and Scott McNealy in 1998 (74.89).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:  The top three players from last year Alister MacKenzie are all in the lineup for this year’s version of the tournament. Ben Kern finished in 11th place with a 73-71-70214 performance. Jonathan James tied for 14th^, his highest place of the year, after firing a 76-69-71216. Tyler Cummins finished one shot back to James, tying for 27th. With the recent surge of Kyle Yonke, and freshman Robert Streb having a great start to his collegiate career, K-State has a good chance to improve off their fifth-place finish from a year ago.

K-State’s Alister MacKenzie Invitational  Lineup

Name                               Yr-Exp     Hometown                  Rnds        Stroke  Avg.

Tyler Cummins                    Sr.-1L     Olathe, Kan.                      9                   73.22

Robert Streb                       Fr.-HS     Edmond, Okla.                   9                   73.67

Kyle Yonke                        So.-1L     Lubbock, Texas                9                   75.00

Ben Kern                            Sr.-3L     Tucson, Ariz.                    9                   70.89

Jonathan James                 Sr.-3L     Keller, Texas                     3                   75.00