Despite finishing seventh in its most recent tournament, coach Jon Mills is happy with the progress and how his team competed this season.
“I think it showed that we can compete with some of the best teams in the country. During the second round, we played some pretty good golf,” he said. “We have a lot of good things to build from. Ultimately, I don’t think we are thrilled with our finishing position, but overall, a lot of good things.”
Junior Jordan Gilkison recorded his second top-15 finish of the year this fall, tying for 15th to lead the Flashes.
Gilkison triple-bogeyed his first hole out of the gate but followed with five birdies in his next seven holes.
“I think he shows a lot of guts when he plays. For him, he really hasn’t shown his highest potential to this point,” Mills said. “He is still finishing high on the leaderboard. I’m really excited for where he is going, and he is one of the best players on the team.”
Gilkison tied for 2nd amid the 81-golfer field with 14 birdies and also sunk the only eagle of the tournament for Kent State.
Finishing one stroke behind Gilkison, redshirt senior Cade Breitenstine shot a three-round score of 212 to finish at two over par. He had the tournament’s best round, shooting a three under 67 through the first 18 holes.
“He was in a position where he had to work his butt off last week to just play the event,” Mills said. “There are so many good things, and when they put it all together, we are going to win.”
Behind Gilkison and Breitenstine, junior Bryce Reed finished at three over par, shooting a 213 over 54 holes, earning him a tie for 26.
Overall, as a team, Kent State came in 2nd place after round one but struggled in round two, leading to a 7th place finish among the 14-team field.
“We are in a position now that we have over a week away before we leave, so we have a little more time to work on things we struggled with this past weekend,” Mills said. “We know the golf course so that we can prepare the right way going into it. I expect us to go down there and finish off the fall with a good finish.”
Kent State will get a weekend off before traveling to play in their final tournament of the Fall. The Flashes will play in the Quail Valley Intercollegiate in Vero Beach, Florida, hosted by Michigan State University.
Emily Lowen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected]
