Cairns leads Flashes with first-place finish

A medalist finish for junior Brett Cairns helped the Kent State men’s golf team finish in third place at the Windon Memorial today.

The team fell to sixth place early on in the third round, but the Flashes regained composure and shot even par to end the third round. They placed two strokes behind second place No. 37 Northwestern, the host team.

“We’ve played in some very good tournaments, and this was a very good finish for us,” Page said. “I’m just happy we beat some top-10 teams like Tennessee.”

Individually, junior Brett Cairns earned his first career win at this weekend, finishing at 1-over-par. Cairns played consistently the entire tournament and made either par or birdie on the first 14 holes of the day.

“He finally broke through and won,” Page said. “All his hard work paid off, it was well deserved.”

Page said sophomore Mackenzie Hughes led the team with Cairns all weekend and also did well finishing at fifth overall.

Junior John Hahn made his way up the leaderboard despite shooting a double-bogey on the 14th hole. Hahn carded a 4-under-par score for the round to finish in a tie for ninth.

All-Ohio freshmen Kevin Miller and Nathan Tarter played their first tournament at the collegiate level this weekend. The duo finished 65th and 76th respectively.

“The freshmen were up and down this weekend,” Page said. “We are still searching for the four and five spot, someone with consistency.”

Kent State has finished in the top four or better the past four years in the Windon Memorial tournament.

“I’m not surprised at our finish,” Page said “It shows our potential.”

The men’s golf team will next compete Oct. 16-17 in the Bank of Tennessee at the Ridges tournament.

Contact sports correspondent Jena Adams at [email protected]