Kent State’s men’s golf team finished in a tie for fourth place in its final regular season tournament at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate tournament on April 23-24.

“I think as a whole our team really needed a week like that where we played pretty decent,” coach Jon Mills said. “[Graduate student] Josh Gilkison, for example, had a nice week, which he needed. It just seems like everyone’s game is starting to progress a little bit, which is what we need.”

The tie for fourth place finish marked the Flashes best of the spring 2022 season.

The tournament was hosted by Ohio State University and took place at the Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

The weather for the tournament was great golfing weather.

“It was beautiful,” Mills said. “It was in the 80s, and we had a little bit of wind pop up, but nothing we haven’t already played in.”

Kent State carded a 1-under-par, 287 and sat in seventh place after the first round.

Freshman Jordan Gilkison shot a team best 2-under-par, 70 and was in 12th place after the first round. Josh Gilkison carded a 1-under-par, 71 and was in 18th place after round one.

Junior Cade Breitenstine and sophomore Luca Civello each shot a 1-above-par, 73 and were tied for 36th place after the first round. Junior Chris Vandette carded a 2-above-par, 74 and found himself in 46th place after the first round.

As a team, the Flashes shot significantly better in round two with a 7-under-par, 281 in the second round which brought the overall total to an 8-under-par, 568 and moved the team into fifth place.

“In the first round, we had it six or seven under par at one point,” Mills said. “So, we were really playing the same in the second round. But, of the first 36 holes, we played nine holes that weren’t very good. We kind of gave it all back and then we picked up the second 18 right where we left off and right where we started the first round, but that time we kind of kept it going.”

Jordan Gilkison carded a 3-under-par, 69 in the second round to bring his overall total to a 5-under-par, 139 and put him in a tie for fifth place after two rounds. Josh Gilkison shot a 4-under-par, 68 in round two bringing his overall total to a 5-under-par, 139 putting him in a tie for fifth place after two rounds.

Breitenstine carded a 3-under-par, 69 in the second round to bring his overall total to a 2-under-par, 142 and moved him up into a tie for 16th place after the second round. Civello shot a 3-above-par, 75 in round two which brought his overall total to a 4-above-par, 148 and dropped him into a tie for 46th place after round two.

Vandette carded a 3-above-par, 75 in the second round to bring his total to a 5-above-par, 149 dropping him into a tie for 54th place after the second round.

Kent State shot its worst round of the day in Sunday’s third round with a 1-above-par, 289 to bring the team’s final total to a 7-under-par, 857 resulting in the team finishing in a tie for fourth place.

Josh Gilkison continued to shoot under par carding a 2-under-par, 70 round three to bring his final overall total to a 7-under-par, 209 and secured him a fifth place finish.

Jordan Gilkison carded his only round above par when he shot a 2-above-par, 74 in the final round to bring his overall total to a 3-under-par, 231 which secured him a tie for 12th place finish.

“Been very happy with how he’s played,” Mills said. “With everything that’s kind of thrown at him, he tends to step up and I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s had a great season and hopefully he can continue to play going into the conference championship and beyond.”

Breitenstine matched his first round score, shooting a 1-above-par, 73 in round three to bring his overall total to a 1-under-par, 215 securing him a tie for 15th place finish.

Civello’s third round was his best of the tournament, as he carded an even-par, 72 in round three bringing his final total to a 4-above-par, 220 which secured him a tie for 38th place. Vandette shot his worst round of the tournament in round three, shooting a 5-above-par, 77 bringing his overall total to a 10-above-par, 226 and securing him a tie for 65th place.

Illinois University won the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate by carding a 30-under-par, 834 over three rounds.

Ohio State University sophomore Maxwell Moldovan won the individual title shooting an 11-under-par, 205 in the tournament.

Up next, the Flashes will compete in the Mid-American Conference Championship tournament in Naperville, Illinois on April 29-May 1.

“Obviously our goal every year is to win, but we can’t control what other guys do,” Mills said. “We are going to do what we can, we’re gonna put the work in here, we’re going to be ready for it and whatever happens, happens. But the biggest thing is we can’t control what other people do. We can only control what we do and that’s what we’re going to stick to and hopefully it works out.”

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