Kent State’s men’s golf team finished in 10th place out of 12 teams at the Aggie Invitational on April 9-10.

“Well, obviously we struggled as a team, but I still feel like there were some good things that happened,” coach Jon Mills said. “But, I think as a team we still kind of struggled with missing the ball in the right spots and kind of some unforced mistakes that lead to bogies or worse. Basically, that’s the main concern, just trying to clean all that up and continue to try to have the guys keep focusing on the positives.”

The tournament was hosted by No. 23 Texas A&M at Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas.

The field included No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 10 Arkansas and No. 23 Texas A&M.

The Flashes shot a 308 in round one, which was good enough for ninth place. Junior Cade Breitenstine was tied for fifth place carding a 1-above-par, 73 in round one.

Freshman Bryce Reed shot a 3-above-par, 75 and was in a tie for 28th place after the first round. Junior Chris Vandette carded a 7-above-par, 79 and sat in a tie for 42nd place following round one.

Freshman Jordan Gilkison shot a 9-above-par, 81 and was in a tie for 52nd place after the first round. Graduate student Josh Gilkison carded a 10-above-par, 82 and sat in a tie for 58th place following round one.

Round two play was suspended around 8 p.m. central time due to darkness on Saturday and resumed Sunday morning.

Kent shot a 305 in round two and remained in 9th place after the round. Breitenstine carded a 6-above-par, 78 and dropped to a tie for 19th place after round two.

Jordan Gilkison shot a 1-above-par, 73 and jumped up the leaderboard into a tie for 31st place following round two. Josh Gilkison carded a 3-above-par, 75 and jumped into a tie for 43rd place after round two.

Vandette shot a 7-above-par, 79 and dropped into a tie for 49th place following round two. Reed carded a 14-above-par, 86 and plummeted into a tie for 65th place after round two.

The Flashes shot a 316 in round three to bring the final team total to a 65-above-par, 929 and a 10th place finish.

Breitenstine carded a 7-above-par, 79 in round three to bring his final total to a 14-above par, 230 for a tie for 25th place finish.

“Cade had his best finish of the season in a pretty strong event,” Mills said. “Obviously the scores don’t quite reflect how good he played. He seems to be getting more and more confident each week he plays.”

Jordan Gilkison shot an 8-above-par, 80 in the third round to bring his final total to an 18-above-par, 234 which secured him a tie for 37th place finish.

Vandette carded a team best 5-above-par, 77 third round to bring his final total to a 19-above-par, 235 for a tie for 43rd place finish.

“I spend some time walking with Chris the last day, and he hit the ball really solid,” Mills said.

Josh Gilkison shot an 8-above-par, 80 to bring his final total to a 21-above-par, 237 which secured him a tie for 52nd place. Reed carded a 10-above-par, 82 to bring his final total to a 27-above-par, 243 for a tie for 66th place finish.

Weather was a factor in the tournament as the teams had to deal with wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour over the weekend.

“I’ve rarely been a part of something like that kind of wind on an already tough golf course,” Mills said. “It was a bit of an eye opener for the guys, and you kind of have to throw everything out the window and just hit the shots and accept wherever they go. I think we did okay at that, but for the most part I think that’s something we still need to improve on in those tough conditions.”

No. 23 Texas A&M won the tournament and shot a 23-above-par, 887 over three rounds.

Texas A&M’s fifth year student Walker Lee carded the highest individual score in the tournament shooting an even par, 216 over the tournament.

Kent will compete in the Robert Kepler Invitational hosted by Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on April 23-24. The tournament will be the Flashes last of the regular season before the Mid-American Conference Championships on April 29-May 1.

“Before the next tournament, we just need to clean up on the little things that we need to improve on,” Mills said. “With hitting, if you miss hit a shot, which you are going to do, you have to miss it in the right spots. Short game is always a thing that we’re always going to work on because it needs to be sharp because you kind of anticipate the weather being bad.”

Kathryn Rajnicek is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].