The Kent State women’s golf team kicked off the 2024 season with a third-place finish at the Boilermaker Classic tournament that ended Tuesday.

The Flashes featured three golfers that individually finished in the top 15 out of 87 participants: sophomore Veronika Kedronova and freshmen Gracie Larsen and Aryn Matthews. Kedronova and Larsen both shot six-over-par (222) in three rounds, and Matthews shot seven-over-par (223) overall. 

“Both of them played great,” coach Casey VanDamme said, discussing the play of Larsen and Matthews. “They both had some adversity, and they got through it really well.” 

As a team, the Flashes placed higher than 12 other teams in the tournament, only finishing behind first-place Purdue, which hosted the event, and second-place Minnesota. 

“They were sound mentally, had a great mental approach and handled adversity well,” VanDamme said. “Our ladies did a good job overall, handling their business with what they did throughout the course and how they approached each shot.” 

Round 1 

Following the first round of play, the Flashes sat in third place after shooting nine-over-par with a team score of 297. 

Kedronova, the reigning Mid-American Conference freshman of the year, got off to a blazing start, as she shot an even-par (72) in the opening round, which included four birdies. 

Round 2 

Kent State moved into second place following the second round of play, where the team shot 13-over-par with a score of 301. 

Kedronova continued to impress throughout the second round, as she scored two birdies; she finished the day in sixth place with a score of three-over-par (147). 

Larsen also had an impressive second round performance, as she scored five birdies en route to a score of one-over-par (73) and a 10th-place finish. 

Matthews scored a total of seven birdies and shot three-over-par (75) in rounds one and two. 

She scored six-over-par (150) and was tied for 15th place individually after round two. 

The reigning MAC player of the year, junior Leon Takagi, had scores of 74 and 78 in rounds one and two. 

She was tied for 25th place after the first day. 

Kent State trailed first-place Purdue by 13 strokes heading into day two. 

Round 3 

Larsen and Matthews both had impressive finishes to the outing during round three. 

They each finished one-over-par for the round (73), with Larsen picking up two birdies and Matthews picking up three.  

Kedronova continued her strong outing on day two; she notched 15 pars throughout the round toward a three-over-par (75) score. 

Freshman Isabella Goyette concluded her first collegiate tournament with a score of 15-over-par (231) and finished tied for 37th place individually. 

VanDamme is hopeful these strong performances will carry over throughout the season. 

“If you play well, it adds to your bucket of confidence,” VanDamme said. “We want to continue to do what we’re doing well and then make some pretty good adjustments if things aren’t working well.”

Takagi struggled in the final round, as she shot a 15-over-par (87) to finish with a 23-over-par (239) overall score – she dropped in the individual rankings from 25th to 66th in one round.

As a team, the Flashes finished round three with a score of nine-over-par (297) –they ended with a 31-over-par (895) score. 

Minnesota jumped the Flashes to take second place, thanks to a strong final round outing. The team finished two strokes ahead with a 29-over-par (893) score. 

Purdue remained in first place, as it rode home-course advantage throughout the tournament. The team finished with a score of 15-over-par (879). 

Looking ahead 

Next up for the Flashes is the Red Raider Invitational in Lubbock, Texas.

The invitational will begin Sept. 24, and it will be hosted by Texas Tech. 

Texas Tech’s course, The Rawls Course, will also host regionals for the NCAA tournament later this year. VanDamme sees this as a great opportunity to prepare if the Flashes are selected to the region. 

“It is a very difficult course, and there will be different types of grasses and different weather, I assume,” VanDamme said. “So, it is just a good experience for our team.”

John Engoglia is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].