Ty Linder and I just finished recording the first edition of a new Kent State Golf Show with associate men’s golf head coach Rob Wakeling here at the M.A.C. Center.
It was a fun half hour that we plan to turn into a regular one-hour show airing every two weeks on the Golden Flashes iHeart Radio channel.
The show was recorded live to tape and as we’ll get the word out as soon as it is ready to air.
In this week’s show, we talked about the recent spring trip to Florida that was followed by head coach Herb Page taking seniors Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Kyle Kmiecik and sophomores Kody Fry and Sebastian Bendsen to Prairie Dunes in Kansas for two weekend rounds on the site of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
According to Wakeling, the conditions were perfect for the Flashes first round at Prairie Dunes, but the wind whipped to 40 miles per hour in the second round, which made for a perfect weekend of practice, seeing the course under two completely different conditions.
It’s interesting to see how Kent State’s men’s golf team dropped a bit in the rankings after finishing 2nd out of 14 teams at the Davidson College Invitational March 3-4 and 2nd out of 12 teams at the General Hackler Championship March 10-11, but then moved up a spot in the rankings last week after finishing 13th out of 15 teams at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian. The reason was the strength of the field. The Floridian hosted some of the best teams in the nation. The Flashes will face another elite field this weekend at the Aggie Invitational.
The radio show also included a discussion of what is next for Conners and Pendrith – two of the highest rated amateurs in the world according to the R&A and Scratch Golfers rankings – after their college careers come to an end in late May. Wakeling expects both to continue to play amateur golf during the summer before turning professional.
It’s a fun show. We had fun recording it, and after finishing the half hour “pilot” it was pretty clear that the show should be an hour long. We’ll use it to talk about what is happening in the Kent State men’s and women’s golf programs as well as talk about professional golf, equipment, courses and golf getaways.
Herb Page will be joining us on air as well during the show’s run, so if you have any questions for Wakeling or Page, please tweet me at @CarducciKSU.
In addition to my duties as the director of new media here at Kent State, I also serve as the sports information director for the men's golf team. I'll be making my first road trip with the team next weekend when the Flashes play in the Robert Keppler Intercollegiate at Ohio State's Scarlet Course.
One of the disappointing things to me about college golf in recent years is the fact that it is now hard for fans to see their teams play in person. Kent State golf fans used to be able to see the Golden Flashes play in the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate when it alternated between Windmill Lakes and Firestone Country Club. They had a chance to see Ben Curtis before he was British Open champion. But with that event now dead, a trip to Columbus is the best chance to see players like Conners and Pendrith in Kent State blue and gold before they start their professional careers.
In addition to my duties as the director of new media here at Kent State, I also serve as the sports information director for the men's golf team. I'll be making my first road trip with the team next weekend when the Flashes play in the Robert Keppler Intercollegiate at Ohio State's Scarlet Course.
One of the disappointing things to me about college golf in recent years is the fact that it is now hard for fans to see their teams play in person. Kent State golf fans used to be able to see the Golden Flashes play in the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate when it alternated between Windmill Lakes and Firestone Country Club. They had a chance to see Ben Curtis before he was British Open champion. But with that event now dead, a trip to Columbus is the best chance to see players like Conners and Pendrith in Kent State blue and gold before they start their professional careers.
Whatever happened to the dual matches? I don't understand why KSU wouldn't schedule a dual match against another MAC (or other) team at the KSU golf course when both have an off-weekend, or during the week. That would be one way to be able to see this elite program in person.
ReplyDeleteHi David,
DeleteIt's in large part due to the criteria the NCAA now uses to choose the field for the regionals. Unlike men's basketball, the MAC actually has real opportunities to be a multiple-bid team in men's golf – like last year when Ball State earned a second bid for the MAC and then advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Schedules are now tight and filled with tournaments selected to enhance Kent State's resume. The duals just don't fit into a schedule designed to reach the postseason. Even in what might seem like an off-weekend, there is a lot of preparation going on for the next tournament (like last week when the team spent spring break staying in Florida or going to Kansas to get a round in on the course that will host the NCAA Championship).
For similar reasons, playing at home in something like the FirstEnergy Intercollegiate no longer fits into the schedule. Against a field with mostly MAC schools and a few Big Ten schools, even if the Flashes finished second out of 12 teams, they would probably drop in the rankings. They can't afford that risk.