The rain and wind of West Lafayette, Indiana wasn’t enough to stop the Kent State men’s golf team from shining.

The Flashes placed first in the Boilermaker Invitational, hosted by No. 38 Purdue. The team ended the tournament one stroke over par. The tournament ran from Saturday to Sunday.

Sunday, the third round was delayed from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

“It’s hard to win these kind of tournaments,” coach Herb Page said. “We had three really great rounds, and today it was really close down the stretch for two or three teams. I’m really proud of how our guys played the last few holes.”

The team also defeated No. 17 UNLV, No. 34 Northwestern and No. 61 Ohio State.

“They really played their best,” Page said. “They played really well down the stretch yesterday and today.”

Sophomore Bjarki Petursson led the Flashes in first place. The tournament marked Petursson’s second overall win, ending four strokes under par. Senior Josh Whalen took second, one stroke behind Petursson.

“It was awesome,” Petursson said. “It was difficult out there. It was kind of like playing in Iceland. It was very windy, but I enjoyed it.”

The poor weather did not shake the team’s confidence. 

“It was brutal yesterday,” Petursson said, “It was good today though. It was a little windy, but it was still nice. Way better than yesterday.”

At one point, the team thought Saturday’s heavy winds would cut the tournament short.

“We thought we were in for another 36 holer,” Page said. “Yesterday the wind just howled. It was very, very difficult. That made our scores even better. Today was still windy, but after playing in 30 mph winds, it feels like a gentle breeze.”

The Flashes will next compete at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State.

“We’ll see if we keep the momentum going,” Page said. “This group is really great. They just want to win.”

Erik Svensson is a sports reporter, contact him at [email protected].