Kent State Completes First Day Of Nationally Ranked Nicklaus Invitational
10/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Golden Flashes rally in the second round but are unable to make
up ground
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Competing amongst a 10-team
field that features five of the nation's top 10 ranked teams,
the Kent State men's golf team completed the first 36 holes
of play at the Jack Nickalus Invitational. The Golden Flashes
were off to a slow start this morning at the Scioto Country Club in
Columbus, but rallied in the afternoon shooting a 296 team score
for the second round.
Currently in 10th place, Kent State (313-294=609) was led by junior
Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ontario / Highland Secondary).
Hughes shot team-low rounds of 75 and 71 and heads into tomorrow
tied for 12th overall and just one stroke out of the top 10 with a
146. The 2010 First Team All-Mid-American Conference
performer rolled home seven birdies on the day and could have shot
even lower had it not been for a trio of double bogeys in the first
round.
Seeing his first action in the KSU line-up since mid-April, senior
J.P. Paiement (Des Ruisseaux, Quebec/Polyvalente St. Joseph) is
tied for 36th after he shot a 76 in each round on the par 70,
7,140-yard layout. Starting the day on No. 10, Paiement was
seven-over thru his first 12 holes. A strong finish, that included
a birdie on No. 6, would give him an opening round 76. In the
afternoon he played the same six holes in four-over, but got off to
a better start as he closed with another 76.
The biggest contributor to the Golden Flashes 17-stroke improvement
in the afternoon was freshman Corey Conners (Listowel,
Ontario). Following an opening round 85 that he'd soon
forget, Conners shot 13 strokes lower in the afternoon. The
turnaround was sparked by his performance on the par-four, 10th
hole. In the morning he posted a quadruple-bogey eight, then
made a birdie his second time around. He also birdied Nos.
11, 18 and 6 in the afternoon to finish with a two-over 72 and a
157, 36-hole total.
Rounding out the scoring for Kent State was senior John Hahn (Las
Vegas, Nev. / Hudson [Ohio]) and sophomore Kevin Miller (Dover,
Ohio / Sugarcreek Garaway). Hahn compiled a 158 (79-79) while
Miller had a 160 (83-77).
No. 10 Arkansas (286-292) recorded a 578 and holds a two-shot lead
over No. 2 Oklahoma State (295-285).
The tournament concludes tomorrow with tee times starting at 8:30
a.m.
Kent
State Rd1-Rd2=total (to par)
T12 Mackenzie Hughes
75 - 71 = 146 (+6)
T36 J.P. Paiement
76 - 76 = 152 (+12)
T48 Corey Conners
85 - 72 = 157 (+17)
50 John Hahn
79 - 79 = 158 (+18)
T51 Kevin Miller
83 - 77 = 160 (+20)
Rk* team
Rd1-Rd2=total (to par)
1 10 Arkansas
286 - 292 = 578 (+18)
2 2 Oklahoma State
295 - 285 = 580 (+20)
3 9 Illinois
290 - 291 = 581 (+21)
T4 USC
287 - 299 = 586 (+26)
T4 8 Texas
303 - 283 = 586 (+26)
6 15 Ohio
State 294 - 295 = 589 (+29)
7 28 Purdue
303 - 293 = 596 (+36)
8 4 LSU 303 -
294 = 597 (+37)
9 33 Baylor
300 - 300 = 600 (+40)
10 Kent
State 313 - 296 = 609 (+49)
*Rankings by www.golfstat.com
