Kent State University
Valspar Invitational at Floridian
Flashes in 12th after first two rounds at Floridian
3/24/2014 8:27:00 PM | Men's Golf
PALM CITY, Fla. – Taylor Pendrith shot rounds of 1-over-par 72 and 4-under-par-67 on Monday to lead Kent State during day one of the Valspar Collegiate Invitational at Floridian.
Playing in an elite 15-team field that includes 11 teams in the top-30 of the national rankings, the 29th-ranked Golden Flashes finished the first day in 12th place at even-par 568 after following a 1-under-par morning round of 283 with a 1-over-par 285 in the afternoon.
Kent State will begin Tuesday's final round 14 shots behind the first-place tie of No. 3 Oklahoma State (273-281–554) and No. 4 Georgia Tech (274-280–554).
"The crazy thing is that I didn't think we played too bad," said Kent State head coach Herb Page. "When you look at it, all five of our guys had a round of par or better and we are only 14 shots out of first place. Certainly 12th is not where we want to be, but really we are not that far off. You look at our sophomores and Sebastian Bendsen had his first under-par round for us in the afternoon while Kody Fry was very solid. So we are getting closer.
"The reality is this is a very stout field. I'm not disappointed. I'd like to come out and have a good round on Tuesday morning and pass some teams."
Pendrith's bogey-free of 67 in round two featured birdies at the 301-yard sixth, 475-yard ninth, 529-yard 13th and 220-yard 16th holes. At 3-under for the tournament, the Kent State senior sits in a five-way tie for 14th place individually, seven behind the lead of Florida State's Jack Maguire.
"Taylor played flawlessly in the afternoon," said Page. "If he could have made a couple of more putts he might have shot seven or eight under in the afternoon. But his round shows that it is out there."
Flashes senior Corey Conners recorded six birdies while shooting a 1-under-par 70 in round one, but struggled to a 4-over-par 75 in the afternoon. Fellow senior Kyle Kmiecik followed an even-par first round with a 76 in round two.
Fry finished day one at 1-over par after consistent rounds of 70 and 73, while Bendsen rebounded from an 82 in round one by shooting 70. His afternoon round was highlighted by an eagle at the 539-yard 15th hole.
"I thought Kody Fry did a nice job overall and Sebastian Bendsen showed a lot of character and competitive spirit coming back the way he did," said Page. "He didn't give up. None of our guys did, and while there is room for improvement, I can see that we are not that far off."
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| Course:Floridian: Championship Tees Par 71 - 7076 Yards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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current position |
team | scoring | rounds |
total score |
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| to par | thru | today | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T1 |
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-14 | F | -3 | 273 | 281 | 554 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T1 |
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-14 | F | -4 | 274 | 280 | 554 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
|
-12 | F | -6 | 278 | 278 | 556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |
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-11 | F | -2 | 275 | 282 | 557 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |
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-10 | F | -2 | 276 | 282 | 558 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T6 |
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-7 | F | -6 | 283 | 278 | 561 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T6 |
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-7 | F | -5 | 282 | 279 | 561 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T8 |
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-6 | F | -2 | 280 | 282 | 562 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T8 |
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-6 | F | +1 | 277 | 285 | 562 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |
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-3 | F | -4 | 285 | 280 | 565 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 |
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-2 | F | +6 | 276 | 290 | 566 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 |
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E | F | +1 | 283 | 285 | 568 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 |
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+1 | F | +2 | 283 | 286 | 569 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 |
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+3 | F | +6 | 281 | 290 | 571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 |
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+19 | F | +4 | 299 | 288 | 587 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kent State | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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