East Michigan News

Bavake Sihota shared fifth place as the Eastern Michigan University men's golf team secured a sixth-place finish at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate held in Columbus, Ohio, from April 18-19. The tournament, marking the Eagles' last regular-season event, saw the team compete against windy conditions on the par-72, 7,455-yard Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club. Eastern Michigan outperformed two higher-ranked teams: No. 45 Colorado State University and No. 106 University of Minnesota.

The Eagles ended the tournament at 41-over 893, while host team No. 84 Ohio State won with 24-over 876. No. 82 University of Nebraska and No. 80 Kent State University placed second and third, respectively. Eastern Michigan's performance placed them ahead of Minnesota, which finished seventh, and Colorado State, which came in ninth.

A notable aspect of the team’s performance was their ranking in specific areas. Eastern Michigan ranked second in the 13-team field for performance on par 3s at 17-over and fifth on par 5s at even-par. The team also came second in the number of birdies, with a total of 35, and was second in maintaining the fewest double bogies or worse, with just five.

Individually, Sihota scored 4-over 217 to finish in a tie with No. 91 Jordan Gilkison of Kent State and Creighton University's Grent Feldman. Sihota's finish was the best of his career, marking his first top 10 and top 20 showing.

Tim Chan and Rory McDonald-O'Brien tied for 20th place, with both finishing at 12-over 225. Chan finished as the leader on par 3s at 1-under, one of only four players to shoot even or better. James Baxter and Daniel Robles Delval also contributed to the team's ranking.

The Eagles will next compete for the Mid-American Conference Championships from April 27-29 at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio.