Dates: Oct. 19-20

Par: 72

Yardage: 7,104

Total Holes: 54

Format: 36 holes Mon., 18 holes Tue. Play will begin with an 8:30 a.m. start Monday and conclude with an 8 a.m. tee-off Tuesday.

The Field: (15) Kansas State, Coastal Carolina, Duke, Florida Southern, Furman, Illinois, Michigan State, North Carolina, Old Dominion, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tulsa, UNC-Wilmington, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech

The Duke Golf Classic Lineup

Name Yr-Exp Rnds. Avg.

Matt Van Cleave Jr-1L 10 72.0

Aaron Watkins Sr-3L 10 71.8

Ben Kern So-1L 5 71.0

A.J. Elgert Sr-3L 10 74.4

Tim Moody Sr-1L 5 74.0

Off to Durham After lapping the field at the Purina Classic held Oct. 6-7 in St. Charles, Mo., the Kansas State men's golf team will conclude its fall season Oct. 19-20 at the Duke Golf Classic. The Classic will be played at the par-72, 7,104-yard Duke Golf Club in Durham, N.C. It will be the Wildcats' first-ever appearance in the tournament

Knockout Performance K-State blew past the rest of the field at the Purina Classic, firing a school record 277-268-285830 en route to finishing 16 strokes ahead of second-place Texas-San Antonio. The win was the first by the Wildcats since the fall of 2002 at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate. K-State had five of its six golfers place among the first 11 finisher's.

Matt Van Cleave became the first Wildcat medalist since Aaron Watkins paced the field at the 2002 Wildcat Invitational. Van Cleave fired a school record 70-67-65202 to finish 11-under par.

Familiar Foes K-State will be facing a familiar field at the Duke Golf Classic. The Wildcats have already squared-off against five of the schools and hold a record of 5-1 versus them. The Wildcats will be looking for redemption against UNC-Wilmington, which dealt K-State its first loss of the season when they won the season opening Badger Invitational by three strokes over the Wildcats. The other schools that K-State has defeated have been Duke (Inverness), Illinois (Inverness), Michigan State (Badger, Inverness) and Toledo (Inverness).

Falling Records

Team Records

Three-Round Team Score

Purina Classic 277-268-285830

*Baylor Intercollegiate 10/01 296-281-278855

Low 18-Hole Team Score

268 Purina Classic

*273 Branson Creek Invitational 4/01

Individual Record

Three-Round Individual Score

Matt Van Cleave 70-67-65202

Ben Kern 68-68-73209

Tim Moody 69-69-71209

Aaron Watkins 71-65-74210

*Aaron Watkins 210 Baylor Intercollegiate 10/01

*Previous record

Above Par With one tournament remaining on the fall docket, Van Cleave has placed among the top 10 finisher's in every tournament. Despite his prowess in the top 10, the Purina Classic marked the first time that the junior finished better than senior Aaron Watkins. With his 8th-place finish at the Purina, Watkins has also finished among the top 10 individuals in all four tournaments. Even more impressive is the fact that Watkins had finished in the top 5 for the first three tournaments, with his showing at the Purina being his worst of the season.

Stroke Supremacy With one tournament to go in the spring there are three Wildcat golfers that are in the mix to lead the Wildcat's with the lowest stroke average heading into the break. The three golfers are all within one-stroke of each other. This fall K-State is paced by sophomore Ben Kern's stroke average of 71.0. He is followed by Watkins at 71.8 and Van Cleave at 72.0.Last year Aaron Watkins paced the Wildcats at the fall break with a stroke average of 71.88.

Poll Hopping K-State's record smashing performance at the Purina Classic turned many heads, including pollsters, as the Wildcats jumped four places into the No. 16 slot in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. In the Golfstat rankings released Oct. 14 K-State checks in at No. 11 in the country.