Veronika Kedronova’s stunning performance guided the Kent State women’s golf team to a third-place finish at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational that ended Tuesday. 

This marks Kedronova’s second tournament win of the season and the third of her career. The sophomore shot five-under-par (211) and finished two strokes ahead of multiple second place runner-ups. 

“She was in a good spot by playing very smart golf,” coach Casey VanDamme said. “I wouldn’t say she was hitting it her best, but she controlled her misses very well and did a really good job putting.” 

The Flashes finished ahead of 10 other teams in the tournament and only finished behind second-place Missouri and first-place Kansas, which hosted the event. The team was in the hunt for largely the whole tournament, but failed to make up ground, as Kansas pulled away in the third round. 

“It was a much more challenging course that we played the second day — the greens got firmer and the hole locations were more difficult,” VanDamme said. “We’ve played a ton of competitive golf in a short period of time, so you could see them hitting the wall even though some of their scores didn’t indicate it.” 

Round 1 

The Flashes started things off with an opening round score of four-over-par (292). 

Kedronova began her dazzling outing by shooting two-under-par (70) in round one. 

Freshman Aryn Matthews finished close behind Kedronova with an impressive score of one-under-par (71). 

Freshman Gracie Larsen kept things going with a solid score of one-over-par (73). 

The team was tied for third place after round one. 

Round 2 

The Flashes jumped into second place following round two after shooting an impressive one-under-par (287) for the round. The team concluded day one of the tournament with an overall score of three-over-par (579). 

Kedronova continued her dominant outing with a round score of three-under-par (69). She fired 12 birdies throughout the day en route to an overall score of five-under-par (139) and a first-place tie. 

Aryn Matthews’ strong outing also continued with another round score of one-under-par (71). She shot two-under-par (142) for the day and sat in a tie for sixth place. 

After a rough round-one start, Isabella Goyette got back on track by shooting one-under-par (71) in round two. The freshman shot five-over-par overall (149) and finished the day in a 25th-place tie. 

Larsen rounded things out for the Flashes with a solid four-over-par (76) round score. She was also tied for 25th place with an overall score of five-over-par (149). 

The Flashes trailed Kansas by 15 strokes heading into the third round. 

Round 3 

Kedronova concluded her incredible tournament performance with an even-par (72) score. She shot four birdies in round three en route to a first-place finish out of 66 golfers. 

“Whenever you can get a win, it’s really special,” VanDamme said. “We’re excited for her, and we expect continued success as we move forward.” 

Matthews shot four-over-par (76) in round three and finished the tournament with a score of two-over-par (218). She finished just outside of the top 10 in an 11th-place tie. 

“Her ball striking was a lot better than some previous tournaments, and it’s continuing to improve,” VanDamme said. “She had some chances for big setbacks and unlucky breaks, but she held it together really well.” 

Larsen finished her outing with a score of five-over-par (77) in round three. She shot a respectable 10-over-par (226) and finished tied for 27th place. 

“She’s a really good player,” VanDamme said. “She struggled, to be honest, but she hung in there and kept grinding.” 

As a team, the Flashes shot 16-over-par (304) in the closing round and 19-over-par (883) overall. The Flashes would drop into third place after a strong round-three performance by Missouri. 

Looking ahead 

The Flashes will play their final tournament of the fall season at the Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate in Knoxville, Tenn. 

The tournament will run Oct. 20-22. To VanDamme, this is a great opportunity to end the fall season on a high note. 

“We’ve had a decent fall, but we haven’t really had a tournament where we’ve been firing on all cylinders,” VanDamme said. “We have one more shot to do that this fall, and that’s what we’ll try to do.” 

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