After shooting low scores early, the Kent men’s golf team stumbled in the third round, finishing in eighth place.

The team shot an 11-under-par 829 at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, Arizona, and placed in the middle of the field of 15.

“It went really well for two days,” coach Jon Mills said. “Guys were playing really solid golf. It seemed like every day everyone on the team was in it.”

No player on the team scored above par 70 during the first two rounds of the tournament on Friday and Saturday.

But during the third round on Sunday, the team did not sustain that level of play.

“It was a little tougher today, we just got off to a bad start, and never really recovered from it,” Mills said.

Though the Flashes were outside the top half of the field, Mills was happy with how his team played.

“All the guys that played this week were great. There is a lot of talent, and they have proved they can score some low scores,” Mills said. “It is a pretty young lineup, but they are going to do great things this year.”

The roster is young, but the Flashes were again led by upperclassmen Josh Gilkison, who scored seven-under-par on the first day.

“Josh played well all week and his opening round 63 was awesome,” Mills said.

Gilkison, who is a junior, finished the tournament tied for third, shooting nine-under-par 201.

The only other Flash who finished below par was Julien Paltrinieri, the sophomore from Italy, who shot three-under-par 207 and tied for 24th.

The two freshmen in the lineup, Cade Breitenstine and Chris Vandette, finished tied for 44th after both shooting one-over-par 211.

Mills says that though the weather was calm, he’s satisfied with how well the team performed in the heat of Arizona.

“It was really nice to see how quickly they adapted to these conditions,” Mills said.

The team will be back in more familiar weather next, as they travel to Toledo Monday, Sept. 23 for the Inverness Intercollegiate.

Contact Owen MacMillan at [email protected]