Men’s golf prepare for dueling Barona Cup Tournament

Kent+State+junior+golfer+Kevin+Miller.+Photo+courtesy+of+Matthew+Vern+Bliss.

Matthew Vern Bliss

Kent State junior golfer Kevin Miller. Photo courtesy of Matthew Vern Bliss.

John Dvozenja

The Kent State Men’s golf team is coming off of a fourth place finish in the Louisiana Classics Tournament in Lafayette, La. The Flashes are still ranked No. 21 in division I men’s golf.

The team shot well throughout the first two rounds of match play in the Louisiana Classics but then didn’t play to their level of talent in the final round. The Flashes were tied for the lead with LSU throughout the first 36 holes of match play then fell to fourth place after collectively shooting 299.

“Our goal for this week’s tournament is for everyone to get one shot per round better,” head coach Herb Page said. “We are going to need to be more mentally tough, too.”

Page continued by saying The Barona Cup Tournament is the seventh most difficult college tournament course for the spring. Hosted by San Diego State, this tournament consists of the usual 36-holes in round one and 18-holes on the final round. This tournament is unique to others, in that each team will start six players with the low five scores per round going toward the team total.

Page has his starting six players set when it comes time to tee it up for Thursday and Friday’s matchup: Mackenzie Hughes (Sr.); Nicholas Scott (Fr.); Taylor Pendrith (So.); Corey Conners (So.); Kevin Miller (Jr.) and Kyle Kmiecik (So.).

“You can’t win with one great player,” Page said. “We’ve got some depth; we have a bunch of great players. [Having six starters] is really nice for a coach.”

The Flashes will leave for Lakeside, Calif., for the Barona Collegiate Cup Tournament Saturday morning.

“We are very well prepared,” Page said. “Our players are ahead. They are very, very good. Every time we tee it up, we feel like we can win.”

Contact John Dvozenja at [email protected].