CHARDON, Ohio After placing fourth through two rounds at the Cleveland State Invitational, the Kansas State men’s golf team fell four spots to finish the tournament eighth, carding a team score of 883 (293-291-299) at the par-71, 7,885 Sand Ridge Golf Club. Louisville fired a tournament low score of 282 over the final 18 holes, finishing the tournament with a total score of 871 (293-296-282).

Overall, head coach Tim Norris was happy with what the Wildcats were able to accomplish in the opening tournament.

“It was nice to get off to a solid start to the season,” Norris said. “We still have some work to do, but overall I am pretty pleased. We were only 12 back of the leader, and I think we can find those 12 strokes pretty easily.”

Ben Kern finished second, tying a career best, as he carded an eight-under, 205 (68-68-69), which is the second lowest individual 54-hole score in school history. He finished three stokes behind individual medalist Gary Woodland of Kansas, who fired a 202 (67-66-69). Woodland and Kern were the only two golfers to shoot under par for the 54-hole tournament.

“Ben only missed eight greens in 54 holes,” Coach Norris said. “He is really starting to play with a lot of confidence, and he’s playing under control.”

Robert Streb had a successful debut as a Wildcat as he shot a 75-75-74224 (+11) to tie for 35th.

“Robert had a good first tournament,” Norris commented about his freshman. “He came right out of the box and did well on US Open-type rough.”

The Wildcats will take a week off before heading to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Wolverine Intercollegiate, Sept. 24-25.

Team Scores: 1. Louisville, 293-296-282871 (+19); 2. TCU, 284-290-298872 (+20); 3. Kent State, 295-285-294874 (+22); T4. Purdue, 299-293-285877 (+25); T4. Eastern Kentucky, 290-296-291877 (+25); 6. Akron, 295-290-295880 (+28); 7. Xavier, 298-283-301882 (+30); 8. K-State, 293-291-299883 (+31); 9. Kansas, 301-293-293887 (+35); 10. Penn State, 293-302-296891 (+27); 11. Indiana, 300-297-297894 (+42); 12. Texas Tech, 303-292-300895 (+43); 13. Eastern Michigan, 312-293-298903 (+51); 14. Wisconsin, 307-292-305904 (+52); 15. Miami (OH), 300-297-308905 (+53); 16. Cleveland State, 291-306-312909 (+57); 17. William & Mary, 316-303-304923 (+71).

Top Individuals: 1. Gary Woodland, Kansas, 67-66-69202 (-11); 2. Ben Kern, K-State, 68-68-69205 (-8); 3. Peter Richardson, Purdue, 75-69-69213 (E); T4. Will Hanna, Louisville, 74-72-68214 (+1); T4. Garrett Jones, Wisconsin, 71-70-73214 (+1).

K-State Individuals: T35. Robert Streb, 75-75-74224 (+11); T55. Tyler Cummins, 74-72-83229 (+16); T58. Jay Kramer, 76-76-78230 (+17); T62. Kyle Yonke, 78-76-78232 (+19).