Hahn Takes Home Louisiana Classics Medalist Honors As Kent State Finishes Fourth
3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Golden Flashes' junior wins his fifth career tournament
LAFAYETTE, La. — Senior John Hahn (Las Vegas, Nev. / Hudson [Ohio]) took home individual medalist honors at the 26th Annual Louisiana Classics on Tuesday shooting a 54-hole score of 206 (70-66-70) to lead Kent State to a fourth place finish in the 15-team field. Hahn, who was 10-under for the tournament picks up his second win of the season and the fifth of his career.
Led by a team low 70 from the two-time All-American in today's final round, the Golden Flashes shot a 298 and finished the tournament with an 871 (295-278-298) team score. No 6 Illinois won the event with an 854 (288-282-284) followed by No. 8 LSU which took second with an 860 (283-287-290). Host Louisiana-Lafayette just beat out Kent State for the third spot with an 870 (290-287-293).
"Hahn played spectacular and was nearly flawless all week, making just two bogies in 54 holes," said Director of Golf/Head Coach Herb Page. "Unfortunately we didn't get enough out of the rest of our line-up today. We hung in there for a while at the start, but we started to really struggle once the wind picked up later in the round."
Playing the par 72, 6898-yard, Oakbourne CC course, Hahn kicked off the spring season like he did the fall with a win in the Golden Flashes' first event. After rounds of 70 and 66 yesterday, he pieced together another sub-par performance on Tuesday recording three birdies against one-bogey and 14 pars.
"I got a little extra time on the course this winter by attending the Walker Cup practice in January and playing in the Jones Cup in February so heading into the week I felt really fresh and good about my game," said Hahn. "My last two rounds were really stress free. I hit a lot of tight and pin high shots so it left me with birdie putts from 6-7 feet or a 2-3-footer for par."
Hahn won the tournament going away posting a four stoke victory over second place finishers Luke Guthrie of Illinois, the nation's 14th ranked player, and Andrew Loupe of LSU, the nation's 31st ranked player. His five career victories now ties him for second place all-time at Kent State with Karl Zoller (1981-85). Eric Frishette (1990-94) holds the all-time mark with seven.
Backing up Hahn's two-under senior Brett Cairns (Courtland, Ontario/Holy Trinity) posted a 75 in the final round to finish with a 224 (81-68-75) total and tied for 42nd. Freshman Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ontario) followed with a 76 and tied for 37th with a 223 (73-74-76) in just the third tournament of his collegiate career. Pendrith, who started off on hole No. 2, was even par through 15 holes today in a stretch that included two birdies and an eagle. But a triple-bogey on the par 3 17th and a bogey on the par 4 18th did him in.
Freshmen Corey Conners (Listowel, Ontario) also had a little trouble on a par three as he made a triple bogey on No 9. He played the rest of the 17 holes at two-over however leaving him with a final round 77 and a career low 220 (73-70-77) that tied him for 21st in the 84-man field. Junior Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ontario / Highland Secondary) finished the tournament with a 78 on Tuesday and shot a 236 (79-79-78) composite.
"We definitely made some mistakes this week, but the good news is that they are correctable mistakes," said Page. "This was our first tournament of the Spring so its not a bad start, but we still have plenty of room for improvement."
The Golden Flashes head to Arizona for the NIT Invitational @ the OMNI Tucson National golf Course March 19-20.
Kent State Rd1-Rd2-Rd3=total (to par)
1 John Hahn 70 - 66 -70 = 206 (-10)
T21 Corey Conners 73 - 70 - 77 = 220 (+4)
T37 Taylor Pendrith 73 - 74 - 76 = 223 (+7)
T42 Brett Cairns 81 - 68 -75 = 224 (+8)
T78 Mackenzie Hughes 79 - 79 - 78 = 236 (+20)
Rk* team Rd1-Rd2-Rd3=total (to par)
1 6 Illinois 288 - 282 - 284 = 854 (-10)
2 8 LSU 283 - 287 - 290 = 860 (-4)
3 Louisiana-Lafayette 290 - 287 - 293 = 870 (+6)
4 37 Kent State 295 - 278 - 298 = 871 (+7)
5 Southeastern Louisiana 291 - 292 - 296 = 879 (+15)
6 SMU 297 - 297 - 288 = 882 (+18)
T7 Memphis 297 - 298 - 289 = 884 (+20)
T7 38 Tulsa 294 - 294 - 296 = 884 (+20)
9 Texas State 294 - 284 - 308 = 886 (+22)
10 Southern Mississippi 298 - 294 - 295 = 887 (+23)
11 South Alabama 297 - 300 - 293 = 890 (+26)
T12 Kansas 296 - 294 - 303 = 893 (+29)
T12 Houston 300 - 291 - 302 = 893 (+29)
14 UAB 292 - 295 - 319 = 906 (+42)
15 Arkansas-Little Rock 306 - 300 - 303 = 909 (+45)
*Rankings by www.golfstat.com
