Kent State men’s golf team preparing for upcoming season

Then a sophomore, Kent State’s Gisli Sveinbergsson tees off on the 16th hole at the Mid-American Conference championship in Nashport, OH. The Flashes won the conference, while Sveinbergsson won golfer of the year. [FILE]

Zachary McKnight

The Kent State men’s golf team will be looking to build off last season when they start this season this week. Last season the Flashes finished ranked 29th in the country after a 10th place finish at the NCAA National Championship.

“We’ve got a really good squad back,” coach Herb Page said. “We did lose two Americans (Ian Holt and Chase Johnson), but we recruited two good freshmen. We work hard, and the sky’s the limit.”

Page said the Flashes’ two seniors, Bjarki Petursson and Gisli Sveinbergsson are the two best players for Kent State.

That said, Page said you don’t win with two people, you win with five.

“We got to have somebody step up,” Page said. “All are good, but we need some consistency. My job as coach is to keep preparing, prepare them to gain confidence.”

Associate coach Jon Mills said even though the Flashes only played three events during the fall, he feels like they’re in a good spot.

“Seniors need to lead the team,” Mills said. “We also need (four or five players) to play solid and get good scores. We have a couple freshmen who have played solid, and we need others to battle consistently for spots in and out.”

The team’s next tournament is Feb. 25-26 in Lafayette, LA for the Louisiana Classics.

Zachary McKnight is a sports reporter. Contact him at [email protected].