Wind starting to howl in Round 2 of Kepler

The wind starting to howl in
round 2 of the Kepler at OSU

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Your guess is as good as anyone’s with regard to the actual scores through round 1 of the Kepler Intercollegiate here at The Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course.

The scoring on Golfstat.com is incorrect. It credits Sebastian Bendsen with a 3-under-68 when in fact he shot a still very fine round of even-par 71.

Make that change now that round one is complete and Kent State finished the morning at 3-over par as a team as opposed to the even-par mark currently posted online. And that 3-over-par total would have Kent State in third place behind Georgia Tech (-2) and UAB (+1), assuming those scores are correct.

Bendsen has been a greens machine in round one. In fact, after I posted my morning blog, I caught up with the sophomore as he hit to the green at the 378-yard 16th hole. That approach hit the stick and settled just two feet away for an easy birdie that briefly put him at 1-under for his round. A bogey at his final hole (the 9th) dropped him back to even.

Golfstat had Jake Troyer shooting a 78 earlier today when in fact he shot 75. That score has already been corrected. 

The scores of 73 for Corey Conners, 71 for Taylor Pendrith and 72 for Kyle Kmiecik are correct.

KSU senior Corey Conners tees off early
in his second round at OSU's Scarlet Course

I talked with head coach Herb Page just as the second round was getting underway and he said the Scarlet Course should get significantly harder as the day goes on.

“The pins haven’t been the toughest we’ve seen out here over the years, but now that the wind is starting to howl, the Scarlet is going to have some teeth this afternoon,” Page said.

These 36-hole days can be grueling in a shotgun start like this. The Flashes teed off on holes 7-through-10 this morning. When they got to those holes this afternoon, they turned in their score cards and teed right off again. The 36 holes is continuous play. Who said these guys aren’t athletes? The first round took 5 1/2 hours to complete. There is nothing easy about carrying your own bag for 11 hours and still trying to be precise with all of your shots.