Kent State University
NCAA Championships
No. 29 Men’s Golf Finishes Rainy First Round of NCAA Championship
5/25/2018 8:46:00 PM | Men's Golf
STILLWATER, Okla.- Heavy storms this morning stole the anticipated morning tee off this morning at the 2018 NCAA Golf Championship, delaying the first round start by nearly three and a half hours on the tournament's opening day.
The Flashes, who were originally scheduled to tee off at 7:55 a.m., managed to get Josh Gilkison through his first hole off No. 10 around 10:30 a.m. Moments after, the horns sounded signaling suspension of play, ultimately delaying Kent State until 11:45 a.m. when it would finally resume play.
The Flashes eventually completed their first round, carding an even-par 288 score on the demanding par-72, 7,460-yard, Karsten Creek Course.
"Even-Par, I'll take it every day," said head coach Herb Page. " This course is a really hard course, and it will get you sometimes. I'm really happy where we sit. Chase Johnson had a great day on the course finishing 4-under, and how about the freshman Josh Gilkison, in his first national championship finishing at 1-under. Overall, really pleased with our first round."
Leading the Flashes is Chase Johnson who finished the first round at 4-under par 68. Johnson went 17 holes for par or better. He birdied on his ninth hole of the day, a par-5, and on the next hole, he eagled the par-5 hole. Johnson finished the back-nine bogey-free.
Josh Gilkison, who's competing in his first national championship as a freshman, carded a 1-under first round score. He finished the round with four birdies total. On the back-nine, Gilkison finished 9 holes par or better with two birdies.
Ian Holt carded a 1-over par 73 score for the opening round. He birdied twice and went 15 holes for par or less on the day.
Teammates Bjarki Petursson and Gisli Sveinbergsson posted scores of 76 (+4) and 82 (+10), respectively, combining for five birdies.
With Friday seeing a number of pairings not teeing off until as late as 6:22 p.m., current leaderboard standings will shift throughout the remainder of the evening. Live updates regarding leaderboard rankings as well as a potential suspension due to darkness can be followed at golfstat.com.
The Flashes will continue NCAA Championship play tomorrow, slated for an afternoon tee time. The team's second-round start time is contingent on the amount of golf the second half of the field manages to get in before dark.
Players Mentioned
