Kent State remains undefeated with win at Medinah
Kent State's winning squad (Kent State Athletics photo)
Kent State just keeps winning. On Tuesday, the Golden Flashes took home their third consecutive team title of the season at the Illini Invitational, remaining undefeated despite teeing it up for the week at Medinah, a major championship venue that hosted the Ryder Cup in 2012.
Coming down the stretch, Kent State had to hold off Ole Miss, which was coming off a win last month at the
Golfweek Conference Challenge. That was especially difficult, considering that Ole Miss fired a final-round 13-under 275, 11 shots better than Kent State’s final-round score, and 10 better than the next-best team score of the day (a 3-under 285 from Maryland).
With that strong final round, Ole Miss climbed six spots up the leaderboard to second. At 10 under for the tournament, the Rebels were still one shot behind Kent State, which had started the third round with a three-shot cushion.
"Medinah was a great test of mental toughness and discipline today," said head coach Lisa Strom. "This was our first big test coming down the stretch this season and the team responded beautifully. Winning is never easy but winning by one shot goes to show you how each shot matters. Hats off to Ole Miss for their fantastic round today, they vaulted up the board and we knew it was coming down to the wire."
As for Ole Miss, the final-round 275 was a program record. Kennedy Swann played a major role, contributing a final-round 67 that included just one bogey at the par-5 18th. Swann reached 9 under for the week, good enough to claim medalist honors by a shot over Oklahoma’s Kaitlin Milligan.
Information from Kent State Athletics used in this report
ABOUT THE
Illini Women's Invitational
54-hole women's collegiate event hosted at Medinah
Country Club by the University of Illinois. Team (best
four scores out of five players each round) and
individual competitions.
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