Men’s golf coach Jon Mills said his team’s work ethic is paying off.

For the second consecutive tournament, the Flashes tied for second out of over 12 teams.

“It’s the experience of our team,” coach Jon Mills said. “They were all disappointed with how they played the first week at Notre Dame. They’re putting in the work, and it’s showing.”

The Flashes tied with Little Rock for second place in the Windon Memorial Monday and Tuesday. They tied with Kansas for second in the Gopher Invitational Sept. 11 and 12.

In their season opening tournament, the Flashes, last year’s MAC champions, finished 14th out of 15th.

Kent State competed against 13 teams this week, outperforming Marquette, Indiana and Wisconsin. By the end of Monday’s rounds, they were in first place.

As a team, the Flashes finished 7 over par, carding 847. Northwestern finished first overall, going 2 under par, carding 838.

Freshman Ben MacLean led his team in Skokie, Illinois. He tied for fourth overall, finishing with a 1-under 208. This was MacLean’s second best finish this season.

“He’s a very talented player,” said Mills. “He is getting comfortable every event he plays, and his talent is starting to show. He will have the expectation to play well. It’s definitely fun to watch.”

The Flashes other top-five scorers were senior Cade Breitenstine, junior Luca Civello, senior Chris Vandette and sophomore Jordan Gilkison.

Breitenstine finished 7th, going for par and carding 209, while Civello tied for 24th finishing with a 4-over 214. Vandette tied for 28th, finishing 5 over par and carding 215.

Gilkison, last year’s MAC freshman of the year, finished 8 over par carding 218.

Mills said his team is working to find its groove.

“They’re just getting more comfortable,” Mills said. “They’re playing better golf, and they’ve been working at it pretty hard and it’s starting to pay off.  They have to get in a position to win, and we had that opportunity, but we didn’t win. We are capable of winning these events. Once they get over that threshold, then they’ll hit their stride.”

The Flashes have two weeks off to prepare for their next tournament, the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, which starts Oct. 9th and goes until the 11th.

“It was nice to get in that position to almost pull out a victory,” Mills said. “But clean a few things up, and we’ll be the ones with the trophy.”

Brady Hamilton is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].