Women’s golf finishes eighth at the Minnesota Invitational

The Kent State Women’s golf team shot 19-over-par in the final round on Tuesday, Sept. 16 to fall to eighth place in its first tournament of the season.

The Flashes finished the Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis at 50-over-par with a total team score of 914.

East Carolina won the Minnesota Invitational title by shooting 15-over-par.  Colorado finished in second place at 36-over-par

“We had a little setback this week, and we got to want to improve in our next tournament,” Head Coach Greg Robertson said. “Our main objective is to get better every week.”

Three Flashes played well in the tournament, placing in the top 15. Senior Jennifer Ha finished tied for 11th place, shooting 3-over-par in the final round and 9-over-par overall. 

Fellow teammates junior Taylor Kim and sophomore Wad Phaewchimplee tied for 14th place at 14-over-par. Kim shot 4-over-par in the final round, while Phaewchimplee shot 5-over-par.

Sophomore Raksha Phadke completed the tournament tied for 50th place, and sophomore Maddy Mullins shot 8-over-par in the final round and finished in 74th place overall.

“As a whole, we were playing very well leading up to the event, and we were all confident,” Ha said. “A couple holes didn’t go so well — it kind of took us by surprise.”

Ha, who won the Minnesota invitational last year, said she was disappointed in her performance this year.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball very well, and it kind of took me by surprise,” Ha said. “I wasn’t able to play as well as I’d liked.”

Robertson said the team will look to improve on its conditioning in order to be better prepared to play. He said the good news about the tournament’s end result is that the girls can get better.

The Flashes’ next tournament will be the Schooner Fall Classic in Oklahoma Oct. 4th.

Contact Ray Strickland at [email protected].