First would have been nice, but it's difficult to find fault with second out of seven teams.
On their home course, the Wildcats men's golf team, shot a three round total of 334 to beat out UMKC, Drake, Creighton, UC Riverside and South Dakota State Monday and Tuesday at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan.
Central Arkansas was the lone school to top K-State. They finished 9 strokes ahead of the Wildcats.
"Central Arkansas is a good team. I knew when I invited them that they would be great competition," said Wildcats coach Tim Norris is a school-issued news release. "They just did a little bit better than we did this week.”
True, but Norris had to have liked what he saw out of a pair of freshman. Jack Watson finished the tournament in second place while Thomas Birdsey took third. Both shot under par for the tournament. Only one other golfer could make that claim.
"We are a work in progress, but this tournament shows that we have some good young guys that I think are going to be good for a long time,” Norris said. “I don’t think they have played their best golf possible by any means."
Birdsey is from Trophy City, Texas. He won a few trophies (I know, but I couldn't resist) back in Texas. He also qualified for the US Amateur the summer before his senior year. Watson holds several records at Carmel Catholic High School in Lincolnshire, Ill. Watson was tied for 69th and 54th in his first two college events so second place has probably got to be a nice confidence boost.
Birdsey has finished tied for 62nd but then 12th at a tournament in Lawrence. He's evidently got the hang of this college golf stuff.
"The freshmen have really picked right up here and shown a lot of progress and growth, so that’s the good side," Norris said. “The bad side is that some of our veterans are struggling a little bit, but that is the nature of golf."
The next outing is Oct. 11-12 in Akron, Ohio so there's some practice time to perhaps make some adjustments. Also ahead are two more fall tournaments in Louisiana and California before breaking for the winter.
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