Redefining Greatness: Veronika Kedronova
11/6/2025 10:58:00 AM | Women's Golf
KENT, Ohio – The Fall 2025 women's golf season further cemented something many around the Kent State Dr. Paula Treckel golf program have known for some time: Veronika Kedronova is one of the best women's collegiate golfers in the country. After back-to-back individual wins in September and October, Kent State's star junior rose to No. 5 in Scoreboard's NCAA Division I Player Rankings. But the road to college golf stardom with the Golden Flashes hasn't always been easy for Kedronova.
From a small town in the Czech Republic, the game of golf wasn't always the most accessible, but it quickly became an important part of her life. After watching her older brother pick up the sport, Kedronova followed suit and hasn't looked back.
"I grew up around golf", she said. "My mom and I would travel with my brother a lot to watch him play. I got a bit jealous and decided to pick up the clubs. Slowly, I became almost addicted; it's so much fun."
That addiction to the game paid off. After achieving success in numerous amateur tournaments across Europe, Kedronova garnered interest from college golf coaches throughout the United States. Faced with one of the most important decisions of her life, Kedronova cited her relationship with Kent State head coach Casey VanDamme as a driving force in her choice to join the Golden Flashes ahead of the 2023-24 season. "I chose Kent State mainly because of the coaches", she said. "Throughout the recruiting process, I really liked Coach VanDamme."
The relationships remained key for Kedronova as she faced the challenge of transitioning to a new life in the United States and beginning her college golf career at Kent State. "It was rough the first couple of weeks after I came in", she remarked on adjusting to a new culture and language. "But I've been able to call home often and have found rhythm in that."
Another source of comfort for Kedronova has been her teammates. "My favorite thing is being part of a team", she said. "With golf being such an individual sport, it's not very common that you get to have that experience. You always have someone who cheers you on. It's awesome to be part of such an amazing community."
Beyond adjusting to a brand new culture away from the course, the beginning of Kedronova's collegiate career marked a new challenge off the tee, one she responded to almost instantly. In her collegiate debut in the Fall of 2023, she tied for the individual title at the Dick McGuire Invitational, finishing atop a 93-player field at 9-under-par. "I like to say the win in my first tournament was random", Kedronova said. "I thought everyone was going to play really well, and I had to play really well."
As the confidence grew throughout her freshman season, so did her goals. "Throughout the year, it became my dream and goal to play in the national championship", she said. After the ups and downs of her first season with the Golden Flashes, that dream was realized. Despite the Kent State team narrowly missing out on advancing at the 2024 Las Vegas NCAA Regional, Kedronova earned a spot in the 2024 NCAA Women's Golf Championship as the top individual not on one of the five advancing teams. She tied for sixth at 1-under-par among the 65 golfers competing in the Las Vegas Regional to earn an individual NCAA Championship bid. "It actually happened", she said. "It was something special." Kedronova wrapped up her freshman season by tying for 135th out of the 150 golfers competing at the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad, California.
A debut campaign that included MAC Freshman of the Year honors, an NCAA Championship appearance, and helping the Golden Flashes to the program's 25th consecutive conference title was only the beginning for Kedronova. While it may have been difficult to imagine that she could surpass the heights of her freshman season, Kedronova did exactly that as a sophomore during the 2024-25 season. Just over a year after winning her debut tournament, Kedronova recorded the second individual victory of her career. She took the crown at the 2024 Red Raider Invitational, finishing atop a field of 87 at 7-under-par. Her third collegiate win came precisely two weeks later, taking the top spot at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational with a score of 5-under-par.
Kedronova's stellar play continued into the Spring of 2025, where she narrowly missed out on adding to her individual win tally with four top-ten finishes, including a 5-under-par runner-up finish at the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational. After racking up five rounds in the 60s, 15 rounds of par or better, and a scoring average of 72.83 in the 2024-25 campaign, all of which were team highs, Kedronova was named the MAC Golfer of the Year. Perhaps more importantly to Kedronova and her teammates, the Golden Flashes claimed the program's 26th consecutive MAC Championship in April to accentuate a superb sophomore season.
"There is no other option than to win (the MAC Championship)", she said. "We like to say that pressure is a privilege, and it's great to be part of such an amazing program and carry on the legacy." Kent State qualified for the 2025 Columbus NCAA Regional with the conference title, where the Golden Flashes fell just short of advancing as a team to the NCAA Championships in California, giving Kedronova and her teammates another lofty goal to pursue in the 2025-26 season.
The Fall of 2025 has seen Kedronova take another remarkable jump in performance, adding two more individual wins in just four appearances with Kent State, thanks to a pair of record-breaking performances. At the Canadian Collegiate in September, the first-ever women's NCAA golf event contested in Canada, she defeated a field of 65 for her fourth career individual title, posting a final tally of 8-under-par in the rain-shortened 36-hole event.
Beyond the prestige of winning a college tournament featuring multiple highly ranked squads, the win also gives Kedronova an exemption into the 2026 CPKC Women's Open, an annual LPGA event hosted in Ontario. "It's awesome to have the opportunity to play at an LPGA event this soon'", she commented on the exemption. "I never really thought I would get the chance this quickly."
Following her win at the Canadian Collegiate, international competition came calling for Kedronova. She was unable to compete for the Flashes in early October at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational for a bigger cause: leading the Czech Republic at the World Amateur Team Championships in Singapore, her second consecutive appearance in the biennial tournament. In the prestigious global event, Kedronova led her nation to an 11th-place finish out of the 33 countries competing. She placed 31st individually out of a field featuring 108 of the world's best amateur golfers, firing rounds of 78, 67, 69, and 74 to close the tournament at even par. "It's a huge honor to compete for the Czech Republic", she commented. "You're playing for something bigger than yourself with international teammates."
One Fall tournament remained for Kedronova and the Golden Flashes following her return from Singapore, the distinguished Landfall Tradition. In the event, she claimed her second consecutive individual title with a record-breaking performance, the fifth win of her collegiate career. Kedronova set a new program record with a 13-under-par 54-hole score of 203, surpassing the previous record of 204 set by Pimnipa Panthong at the 2016 Jim West Invitational. A second-round 65 by Kedronova, the lowest of her career, matched the second-best individual round score in program history. With her name already etched into the record books halfway through her junior season, Kedronova is just two wins shy of matching the program career wins record, also held by Panthong, who tallied seven victories in her career from 2017-20.
With plenty of golf remaining in her collegiate career, Kedronova has built an absurd tally of individual accolades and statistics. The reigning MAC Golfer of the Year and former MAC Freshman of the Year has earned two First Team All-MAC selections with career tallies of nine top-five finishes, 16 top-ten finishes, 11 rounds in the 60s, and 37 rounds of par or better. "I'm really enjoying playing in college and getting to compete with the best of the best", Kedronova noted. "It's really helped me prepare for the professional career I would like to pursue after amateur play."
The No. 24 Golden Flashes' season will resume in late January at the UCF Challenge in Orlando. The team will compete in five Spring tournaments before hosting the 2026 MAC Championship at Firestone Country Club in April, where Kent State will be seeking its 27th consecutive conference title. Led by Kedronova, the Flashes will look to close their season by qualifying for the NCAA Championships, a feat the team hasn't accomplished since 2021.
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