The No.16 Kent State men’s golf team closed out its fall season Sunday at the U.S. Collegiate Championship held at the Golf Club of Georgia. The team finished in 13th out of the 15 competing teams with an 896 three-round total.

Junior Corey Conners, who currently sits as the No.32 ranked player in the nation, led the way for the Flashes en route to a fifth place finish. Conners did not shoot over par for any of his three rounds, and he finished with a one-under 215 for the tournament.

Also performing well for the Flashes were senior Kevin Miller and junior Taylor Pendrith. Miller was able to achieve his best round of the season on Sunday by nailing an eagle on the final hole of his tournament, closing with a two-under 70. Pendrith improved his scores in each of his three rounds and finished tied for 50th with 226.

Head coach Herb Page said he was pleased with his top three players’ performances, but acknowledged the rest of his roster could use some improvement.

“It was a little frustrating,” coach Page said. “Two guys had phenomenal performances, but we’ve got to be mentally tougher and stay focused.”

Rounding out the rest of the Flashes team were sophomores Nick Scott and Taylor Zoller. Scott shot a three-round 236 to finish tied for 71st, while Zoller was unable to put together a round below 80 strokes and finished tied for 78th.

The Flashes faced some stiff competition at the tournament, which featured 11 other teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation.

“It was very difficult,” said coach Page regarding the field his No.16 ranked team was up against. “It was feast or famine, and you can’t get away with too many mistakes.”

The team will now take a four month hiatus until the Flashes return to play on March 4 at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, La.

No. 16 Kent State will face the 10th most difficult schedule in the country for its spring season.

Rich Scheuermann is the golf reporter for the Daily Kent Stater.

Contact Rich Scheuermann at [email protected]