Kent State University
Louisiana Classics
Men’s Golf Tied for Fifth After First Day of Louisiana Classics
2/29/2016 8:16:00 PM | Men's Golf
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Kent State University men's golf team is currently tied for fifth place with a 1-under-par 575 after the first 36 holes of the 31st annual Louisiana Classics held at Oakbourne Country Club.
No. 1 Illinois is in the top spot at 18-under 558, while No. 33 Texas A&M is in second at 17-under 559 and No. 45 Kansas is third with 13-under 563.
"We started the day off well but we just had one little lull where we went from 3-under to 8-over," said Director of Golf/Head Men's Golf Coach Herb Page, whose Golden Flashes backed up an opening-round 293 with a 6-under-par 282 in round two. "Overall it was a nice day and I am proud of the way they hung in there today."
Sophomore Chase Johnson (Barberton, Ohio) and Gisli Sveinbergsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) are leading the Golden Flashes on the individual leaderboard, tied for 14th place at 1-under par. Johnson tallied a 74 in round one after three bogeys and a double, but came back for a strong finish in round two with a 69. Sveinbergsson also struggled in the opening round, shooting a 75 that included four bogeys. He bounced back with five birdies in round two, posting a 4-under-par 68 to move up the leaderboard.
"I was very happy for Gisli (Sveinbergsson)," Page added. "He has a ton of talent and scored his lowest college round today at 4-under par."
Junior Josh Whalen (Napanee, Ontario), who led the Flashes in the Louisiana Classics last year, is close behind in a tie for 26th at even-par. Whalen combined for eight birdies this afternoon, including five while carding a first-round 70. He added three more birdies in his second round, but had two bogeys and a triple to finish the round with a 74.
Sophomore Ian Holt (Stow, Ohio) is tied for 35th at 3-over (74-73–147) and Tyler McHugh (Aurora, Ohio) is in 60th at 7-over (79-72–151).
Sebastian Bendsen (Vejen, Denmark) and Bjarki Petursson (Borgarnes, Iceland) are both competing as individuals for the Golden Flashes. Bendsen is currently in 35th at 2-over (76-70–146) and Petursson is tied for 35th at 3-over (71-76–147).
"The course will be set up a lot harder tomorrow, but if we keep our focus and have another good day we can see if we can move up a little bit tomorrow," said Page.
Kent State begins teeing off tomorrow at 8:10 a.m. They will be paired with UTSA and Southeastern Louisiana. Live scoring will be provided on golfstat.com and live video on hole nine will also be going on throughout the day.
Players Mentioned
