Flashes in Fourth Place After Regional Round One
5/16/2016 9:23:00 PM | Men's Golf
KOHLER, Wis. – Kent State is right where it needs to be, following the opening round of the NCAA Regional Monday at the Meadow Valleys Course at Blackwolf Run. The Golden Flashes sit in fourth place at even par after one round
"We played steady today," Head Coach Herb Page said. "We stayed around par all day. You don't win on the first day, but you can lose it so it's just one day down and two to go."
The Flashes will need to maintain their consistent play Tuesday and Wednesday to hang on to a top five spot and advance to the NCAA Championships. Top-seeded Illinois is one stroke behind Kent State in fifth place at 1-over, while South Dakota State is just behind the Illini at 2-over. Florida and Idaho are tied for the team lead at 5-under.
Sophomore Chase Johnson (Barberton, Ohio) is just one shot off the lead after posting a 2-under 70. Johnson had just one bogey on the day and birdied the 16th hole to push himself into the top five.
"The last 4-5 holes are really tough, but we played the hard holes really well today," Page said. "I think that was the key to our round."
Sophomore Ian Holt (Stow, Ohio) is just one shot behind Johnson and two strokes off the lead at 1-under. After birdies on the 11th and 13th holes, Holt momentarily sat in a tie for the lead. The Flashes totaled nine birdies on the four different par five holes, including three from Holt.
Junior Josh Whalen (Napanee, Ontario) is four strokes off the lead at 1-over. Whalen had three birdies through the first 11 holes.
Freshmen Gisli Sveinbergsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) had a strong back nine, including a birdie on 17 to finish 2-over on the day.
Classmate Bjarki Petursson (Borgarnes, Iceland) also went 1-under on the back nine. Petursson carded a 4-over 76 in round one.
"All of our guys made really good pars on 18," Page said of one of the toughest holes. "A lot of the other tops teams lost a stroke there."
Tuesday's round two begins at 9:20 a.m. Eastern.
Players Mentioned
