The Kent State men’s golf team duplicated its second-round score from Monday — when they shot 18-over-par — in the final round Tuesday, shooting a score of 302 to finish the day.

Kent State finished the Gopher Invitational in seventh place with a total score of 895, shooting 43-over-par.

The men’s golf team started the tournament, held at the Windsor Farm golf course in Independence, Minnesota, strongly, shooting 291 in the first round. The second round, specifically on the last hole where freshman Ian Holt shot a 9 on a par 5, culminated in a disappointing final round for Kent State.

“We had a really really good first round,” Coach Herbert Page said. “I think we had a couple of average second and third rounds.”

Page said the team just did not hit the ball well in the second and third rounds, and said he was disappointed in his team’s performance.

Junior Sebastian Bendsen, one of the few returning members on the men’s golf team, played his best round on Monday, shooting a score of 70. He finished in 12th place with a final score of 7-over-par.

“Yesterday I just didn’t hit as many greens as I did (Monday),” Bendsen said. “I had some good strokes today compared to yesterday.”

Bendsen’s teammates struggled in the final two rounds, particularly the young freshmen. 

Holt couldn’t find his swing in the final round after shooting a 69 in the first round. He shot a 77 in the second round and final round with a final tournament score of 19-over-par. He finished tied for 19th place. 

Holt’s freshmen counterparts Chase Johnson, Spencer Dobbs and J.D Hughes also had lackluster finishes in the tournament. Johnson tied for 28th with an overall score of 13-over-par, Dobbs tied for 47th place at 19-over-par and Hughes tied for 49th place with a 20-over-par score.

Bendsen said it was only the first tournament for the four freshmen and they are obviously disappointed in not producing better results in the first major tournament of the season. He said hopefully the team will regroup and come back in two weeks refocused and refreshed.

The Flash’s next tournament will be the Inverness Intercollegiate, hosted by Toledo at the Inverness Club. The two-day tournament will begin Sept. 22nd.

Contact Ray Strickland at [email protected].