Kent State University
Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
Strong finish vaults No. 14 Men's Golf into fourth-place finish in Dallas
10/24/2017 5:43:00 PM | Men's Golf
DALLAS – Gusting Texas winds couldn't blow out the momentum of Kent State's Men's Golf team late in Tuesday's final round of the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate at the 7,068-yard, par-71 Royal Oaks Country Club on Tuesday.
The Golden Flashes (283-284-281–848) matched Baylor for the lowest score of the day, shooting a 2-under-par 282 that allowed the team to vault from ninth place to fourth. Tournament host Baylor captured the team title at 25-under, followed by Arkansas at 6-under, Minnesota at 4-under and Kent State at 3-under. No other teams in the field of 13 finished under par for the event.
"I am incredibly proud of the way our guys played today on what was a very, very hard day," said Kent State head coach Herb Page. "The wind was really blowing by the time we finished our round, and we needed a hard day like that to catch up."
Of all of the bounce-back performances, none was more impressive the effort turned in by Chris Doody. After shooting rounds of 79 and 78 on Sunday, the KSU sophomore offset two bogeys with four birdies on his way to a 69 on Tuesday that was just one shot off the low score posted in the 73-player field.
"I was really impressed by the way Chris handled himself," said Page. "Golf is a tough game where you have to realize that there's nothing you can do about yesterday, and all you can do is focus on today. He put yesterday behind him and focused on this round."
Bjarki Petursson (70-70-71–211), Chase Johnson (71-70-71–212), and Gisli Sveinbergsson (73-74-71–218) all shot even-par 71 in the final round. Petursson finished tied for 12 at 2-under par, Johnson joined Kent State teammate Ian Holt (69-70-73–212) in a tie for 17th at 1-under, and Sveinbergsson tied for 39th at 5-over.
The unusual format that had every team play in its own fivesome offered Kent State's coaching staff the rare opportunity to see every shot by the Flashes. Page hopes the result leads to teaching opportunities that will spark a spring run.
"I'm not a fan of the format, but there were some positives in seeing everyone play for all 54 holes," said Page. "I saw some great things, but I also saw some weaknesses that we can address. It's great for me and for (assistant coach Jon) Mills because we have a benchmark now that we may not have had before. We can talk about what we saw and do some fine tuning."
Kent State plays in its final tournament of the fall Nov. 3-4 when it travels to Hawaii for the Ka'anapali Classic. The team returns to action in the spring at the Louisiana Classics in LaFayette, La. Feb. 26-27.
Players Mentioned
