The Kent State women’s golf team kicked off its season with a solid performance and third-place finish at the Boilermaker Classic in West Lafayette, Indiana, which ended Tuesday.
In a pool of 14 teams, the Flashes’ team score of 12-over-par (876) finished behind first-place Ole Miss (862) and second-place Indiana (863).
“We played ok, and at times very well, but there were some very correctable mistakes that we made,” said coach Casey VanDamme. “I think the ladies were excited to get the season going and played a little sloppy on a few things.”
Senior Leon Takagi led the way for KSU. She shot two-under-par (214) for the tournament and had her best round score at two-under-par (70) in the first round. She finished with a fifth-place tie on the individual leaderboard.
Junior Veronika Kedronova was the Flashes’ next-best shooter in the season’s opening tournament, scoring one-under-par (215). After a very successful season last year, she kept the momentum going to claim eighth place individually.
Last season, Kedronova won Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Year after being named to the All-MAC first team, winning two invitationals and winning several MAC Golfer of the Week awards.
Rounding things out for the Flashes is sophomore Aryn Matthews, who finished with a score of eight-over-par (224) to claim a 23rd-place tie.
“It was nice to see Leon have a good tournament, but she’s very capable of that,” VanDamme said. “Veronica has been a pretty steady player and had another nice tournament as well.”
Round One
The Flashes shot four-over-par (292) as a team in the opening round. The team was led by Takagi, who shot two-under-par (70), and scored five birdies.
Sophomore Isabella Goyette was next up, shooting par (72) in the first round.
After one round, KSU found itself in fifth place, four strokes behind the Ole Miss Rebels, who shot par (288).
Round Two
The worst round for the Flashes was the second round, where the team shot six-over-par (294) and had no player shoot under par.
Kedrovona was the Flashes’ best shooter, scoring par (72). She was followed by Takagi, who shot one-over-par (73).
Despite not having its most efficient round, KSU moved up to fourth place due to the Boilermakers’ 12-over-par (300) score in the second round.
Round Three
KSU saved its best for last in the final round, with a team score of two-over-par (74). After having no players under par in the second round, the Flashes had three players under par in the final round. Kedronova shot two-under-par (70), and Takagi was joined by Matthews at one-under-par (71).
Though they started the day three strokes ahead of the Flashes, the Xavier Musketeers shot eight-over-par (296) in the third round, clearing the way for KSU to claim a top-three finish in the first tournament of the season.
VanDamme was not disappointed in the team’s performance, but he made it clear that the team has room for improvement.
“I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m not excited for the team because I’m very excited, but we didn’t play our best there,” VanDamme said. “There are certain things that you can’t and certain things that you can. We’re going to focus on some short game shots that we weren’t ready to handle, so that’s specifically what we’re going to work on.”
Up Next
The Flashes will be right back at it Sunday and Monday in Ann Arbor, MI at the Wolverine Invitational.
VanDamme hopes to build on the opening performance and continue to work from there.
“I think it’s exciting because we didn’t play up to our full potential, and yet we’re still finishing in third place, and we were up near the lead at times,” he said. “It’s a good marker to know how good we are, so what we’re going to focus on is what we can control.”
Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].