Men’s golf head coach Herb Page has put together a dominating program during his tenure at Kent State. Over the last 36 years he has led the team to a total of 21 Mid-American Conference championships, including seven of the last eight seasons.

After a fifth place finish during the 2014-15 campaign, the Flashes bounced back last spring to return the title to Kent State.

“Obviously with having a lot of key guys coming back we have high goals,” said associate head coach Jon Mills.

“We expect big things with (Chase) Johnson and (Ian) Holt coming back off of very solid sophomore seasons, so we’re hoping they can come in this year and lead the team.”

Kent State will bring back all five of its top golfers from last season, including MAC Golfer of the Year Chase Johnson and first team All-MAC selection Ian Holt.

Johnson—who carried the MAC’s lowest stroke average of the year—had a season best in a tie for second place at the Cleveland State Invitational with a 54-hole score of 210.

Holt finished the MAC Championships tied for second place with a 3-over 287 score, which gave him a spot on the MAC All-Tournament team.

Kent State also brings back last season’s MAC Freshman of the Year Gisli Sveinbergsson, who also earned second team All-MAC honors. Sveinbergsson’s season best came at the Cleveland State Invitational where he tied for seventh (73-73-69). Coach Mills believe that even after a solid freshman year, Sveinbergsson still has a lot of elements to his game he can improve on.

“I still see Gisli (Sveinbergsson) having a breakout season,” Mills said. “Obviously being a freshman last year he had some very good finishes, but it was kind of up-and-down throughout the year. I think after getting a year under his belt and really understanding college golf I think the sky’s the limit for him.

The Flashes will begin their season at the Gopher Invitational in Minnesota for the sixth consecutive year, and will look to finally break through and win it for the first time.

The two-day competition begins Sept. 10.

Contact Stephen Means at [email protected].