Senior Jordan Gilkison claimed a victory at the Buckeye Classic for the Kent State men’s golf team Saturday, capping 54-holes of golf at 11-under-par. 

He finished two strokes ahead of the runner-up.

“Jordan’s play was great, and I was really happy for him,” coach Jon Mills said. “This was the second win of his career, and I think, for him, it was even more special following a few weeks where he hadn’t played as great as he would have liked. He worked hard this past week and it obviously paid off.”

As a team, the Flashes shot nine-under-par to place fourth out of 13 teams. Ohio State, who hosted the tournament, took first place at 18-under-par.

“Overall, we had some good things and some bad things,” Mills said. 

He explained that it took some time for everyone to find their footing due to tough conditions. 

“We didn’t get off to a good start, and it was because conditions were rough and the first day was really cold,” Mills said. “We didn’t want to be in that position to begin with, and on the first front nine, we dug ourselves in a hole, but then they started to fight back nicely.”

Day one

The first two rounds of the tournament were held back-to-back on Friday.

Gilkison recorded Kent State’s lowest scores in the first two rounds, opening the day at two-under-par (70) and shooting five-under-par (67) in the second round. 

At the end of the day, he sat in second place among 81 players at seven-under-par.

Senior Bryce Reed had the second-best scores countable towards Kent State. 

A one-under-par (71) round one and a one-over-par (73) round two left Reed at an even-par tied 14th place ahead of round three. 

Freshman Darcy Hogg and senior Edvin Backstrom, who competed as individuals in the event, also finished within the top 20 for the day. 

Hogg shot an even-par (72) during the first round and improved to two-under-par in the second round, ending the day tied for 11th place.

Backstrom finished the first 36 holes tied for 18th place at one-over-par. He opened the day with an even-par (72) before a one-over-par (73) round two. 

Kent State concluded the day two-under-par after two rounds to sit in fourth place. 

“We started getting things going on the back nine of the first round, and then in the second round, we played a lot better, preparing us for a solid third round,” Mills said. 

Day two

The third and final round of the tournament followed on Saturday.

The Flashes posted a seven-under-par (281), its best round of the tournament.

Gilkison shot a four-under-par (68) final round, highlighted by four birdies, to pull ahead and secure a first place finish at 11-under-par.

Freshman Ramiro Acevedo fired Kent State’s best round of the weekend on Saturday at six-under-par (66). 

The performance improved his day one score of three-over-par to a final score of three-under-par and a ninth place finish overall. 

Backstrom and Reed remained in the top 20 through day two. 

After a two-under-par (70) round three, Backstrom finished tied for 13th at one-under-par.

Reed remained steady, finishing at an even-par tied for 16th place.

“We played more solidly in the third round, and we got a lot out of [Acevedo] on the last day too, which was good,” Mills said. “We were taking advantage of some of the par fives, but the play from [Gilkison] and [Acevedo] is what really stood out.”

Altogether, the Flashes finished in fourth place at nine-under-par. 

Looking ahead

The Flashes will head back to Columbus for the Robert Kepler Invitational Friday.

This is the team’s last tournament ahead of the Mid-American Conference Championships on April 27.

“We’re heading back to Columbus to a course we’re pretty familiar with, so it’s just practicing and trying to figure out what we need to do this week to put ourselves in the best position,” Mills said. “We’ll work hard this week and be ready, taking it as another tournament that can help us prepare for conference play.”

Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].