The Kent State men’s golf team pulled off its first win of the season Tuesday at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Muirfield, Ohio.

The Flashes entered Tuesday’s second round eight shots back of tournament-leading Oklahoma State, but were able to rally and pull off the victory. The tournament was played at the same course that holds the PGA’s Memorial Tournament each May.

Kent State shot a combined +29 (605), topping a 12-team field that featured six top-30 teams and two in the top 10.

“It was a great victory against some great competition,” Page said. “Taylor Zoller kind of carried us yesterday, then the veterans came through today.”

Zoller, a sophomore from Charleston, S.C shot an opening-round 72, while the rest of the field averaged 78. Zoller ultimately finished the tournament with a +7 (151), good enough for his best collegiate finish at 13th overall.

With the absence of standout junior Corey Conners at the tournament, the victory displayed the depth of the Flashes roster moving forward into the season.

“It solidifies my thoughts that we’ve got one of the best teams in the country,” Page said.

Atop the team’s leaderboard was junior Taylor Pendrith, who shot two straight rounds of two-over 74 and finished in fourth place overall.

The upperclassmen duo of Kevin Miller and Kyle Kmiecik was able to rebound from each posting a first-round 80 by finishing Tuesday’s final round with scores of 74 and 75 respectively. Miller tied for 18th overall and Kmiecik 23rd.

Freshman Ryan Trover finished the tournament tied for 46th with a +17, while sophomore Charlie Phillips ended in 48th.

The team shot a second-round 302, which was 11 strokes better than Oklahoma State, and allowed the Flashes to defeat the Cowboys by three strokes.

Kent State competes in its final fall tournament of the season Oct. 19-21 at the U.S. Collegiate held at Georgia Tech University.

Contact Rich Scheuermann at [email protected].