After competed with the top NCAA teams, the Kent State men’s golf team left the Ping Golfweek Preview yesterday with an 11th place finish.

Between rounds one and two Sunday afternoon the Flashes fell from sixth place and ended the second round carding 25-over-par as a team to drop to 12th place.

Kent State coach Herb Page said even though Kent State is among the best teams in the NCAA and competed against the best this past weekend, the team only played “mediocre” both days of the tournament.

“There are things we can correct and do better,” Page said. “We did not perform and we did not execute.”

Yesterday the men’s golf team played the final round of the tournament and gained one place to finish 11th, one stroke behind 10th place LSU.

Sophomore Mackenzie Hughes, the top performer for Kent State, played “decent” this weekend, Page said. Individually, Hughes finished tied for 12th place, shooting 6-over-par.

“Mackenzie had a pretty OK weekend, but made a very sloppy last bogey on his last shot,” Page said.

Shooting 12-over-par, junior Brett Cairns finished tied for 39th place, the second highest for the Flashes.

“My biggest observation is we gave away very basic shots,” Page said. “We could have been right up there, but we were sloppy.”

Kent State men’s golf team is ranked 38th in the NCAA, and this weekend was not up to expectations, Page said.

“We did not play the way Kent State is capable of playing,” Page said “It was not a lack of talent, but a lack of focus and concentration.”

No. 11 Oklahoma State won the two-day tournament by carding the only under-par team score in the 15-team field. The Cowboys took the top three spots individually, with sophomore Peter Uihlein taking medalist honors after shooting 5-under-par.

The Flashes will continue their season this weekend at the two-day Windon Memorial tournament in Glenview, Ill.

Contact sports correspondent Jena Adams at [email protected]