Kent State takes an 18-shot lead into today's final round of the MAC Men's Golf Championship
5/4/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
NASHPORT, Ohio – Kent State is in position to capture its fifth consecutive Mid-American Conference Men's Golf Championship after firing a 1-under-par 287 during Saturday's third round at Longaberger Golf Club to take a commanding 18-shot lead over second-place Toledo.
At 14-over-par for the tournament, the Golden Flashes will try to hold off challenges from Toledo at 32-over-par, Ball State at 35-over and Akron at 38-over during Sunday's final round.
From an individual standpoint, Kent State junior Taylor Pendrith heads into Sunday as the only player under par for the week. After firing a 2-under-par round of 70 to improve to 8-under-par for the tournament, Pendrith (70-68-70–208) leads Akron's Charlie Bull (76-72-68-216) by eight shots and Ball State's Tyler Merkel by nine.
"When you have somebody like that out front dominating, you can see why we are ahead," said Kent State director of golf/head coach Herb Page. "On any given week it can be a different guy. This is his week and I hope he continues to play aggressively."
After a mediocre second round as a team on Friday afternoon, Kent State benefitted from a full five-man effort when it returned to the 7,243-yard, par-72 Longaberger Golf Club on Saturday morning. The biggest turnaround came from senior Kevin Miller, who rebounded from rounds of 75 and 79 by shooting a team-best 69 on Saturday.
"That's experience," said Page. "Kevin didn't hang his head. He just worked his way around the golf course. The other key was we had three birdies at No. 17. That really kind of finished off the round."
Miller, Kyle Kmiecik and Nick Scott all birdied 17, more than offsetting a rare double bogey by Pendrith on the same hole. Pendrith had his round at 5-under through 16 holes before a difficult finish.
"Pendrith was phenomenal again," said Page. "I know he isn't happy. He hit one bad shot on 17, but it was a great round. He had two eagles and he is playing par-5's like everyone else is playing par-4's. He is hitting 7-irons and 8-irons into these par 5's because he is hitting it so far."
While most of the players in the field are treating the par-5 4th as a three-shot hole, Pendrith attacked it with a driver and a 180-yard 7-iron to 4-feet. After cutting the corner on the par-5 10th, he hit a lob wedge on his second shot, then drained a 30-foot putt.
"It was a bonus to make that one," said Pendrith. "I was just trying to two-putt … I've been hitting the driver well all week. Right now I have lots of confidence in the driver. I'm hitting lots of fairways and hitting it pretty far, which is great. Today I was 6-under on the par-5's."
Kent State's Corey Conners (70-78-74–218) finished the third round in a tie for sixth place at 6-over. Miller was eighth at 7-over, while teammates Kmiecik (76-76-75–226) was tied for 12th at 10-over and Scott (77-79-74–230) was in 20th place at 14-over.
"I think the key for us today was a good start," said Page. "Everybody got off to a good start. The first five holes are very difficult. We got everybody into the game. Nobody was out of the game all day. It actually came right down to the last hole where all five players were in. That's pretty key when you are trying to win a championship."
Kent State will be paired with Toledo and Ball State during Sunday's final round with the first group starting at 9:30 a.m.
"The key is going to be getting off to another good start," said Page. "If we get five guys going early, we can play a lot more relaxed. It's nice to have an 18-shot lead. Trust me."
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| Course:Longaberger Golf Club : Par 72 - 7,243 yards Par 72 - 7243 Yards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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current position |
team | scoring | rounds |
total score |
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| to par | thru | today | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
|
+14 | F | -1 | 291 | 300 | 287 | 878 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |
|
+32 | F | +7 | 296 | 305 | 295 | 896 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
|
+35 | F | +10 | 296 | 305 | 298 | 899 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |
|
+38 | F | +7 | 307 | 300 | 295 | 902 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T5 |
|
+55 | F | +22 | 303 | 306 | 310 | 919 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T5 |
|
+55 | F | +22 | 310 | 299 | 310 | 919 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |
|
+59 | F | +19 | 311 | 305 | 307 | 923 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |
|
+77 | F | +27 | 321 | 305 | 315 | 941 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |
|
+78 | F | +19 | 321 | 314 | 307 | 942 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pos. | Team/Player (seed) | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total |
| 1 | Kent State | 291 | 300 | 287 | 878 |
| 1 | Taylor Pendrith (2) | 70 | 68 | 70 | 208 |
| T6 | Corey Conners (1) | 70 | 78 | 74 | 222 |
| 8 | Kevin Miller (3) | 75 | 79 | 69 | 223 |
| T12 | Kyle Kmiecik (4) | 76 | 75 | 75 | 226 |
| 20 | Nicholas Scott (5) | 77 | 79 | 74 | 230 |
