The Kenyon men’s golf team kicked off its season this week at the Gate City Invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina, starting off in ninth place after the first two rounds on Monday. The competition continued with round three on Tuesday, and the Owls were able to jump up to eighth place, securing a top-ten finish. Kenyon faced 18 foes over the two days, including podium finishers Sewanee (Tenn.), Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) and Huntingdon College (Ala.). 

The Owls took to the green on day one with an impressive showing. Jonathan Oakes ’27 and Adrian Jordan ’28 both shot 1-over par in the opening round, garnering four birdies each. Jaiden Koonar ’27 shot 2-over par, while Rafael Frias IV ’27 shot 7-over par and Connor Gray ’28 shot 9-over par. With no Kenyon players falling too far behind, the Owls looked to continue their success into the second round.

Round two saw similar results for Kenyon. Oakes played an excellent round, finishing with an astounding 3-under par and another four birdies. Koonar came in just behind him at 2-under par, amassing only two bogeys to his four birdies. Gray and Frias IV both ended 2-over par, while Jordan finished at 10-over par. The Owls secured a ninth-place finish with one round to play and a big opportunity to climb up the leaderboard.

In the final round, Oakes and Gray finished even par, with Oakes once again carding four birdies and Gray recording three. Jordan came in at 2-over par, Koonar ended by shooting  5-over par and Frias IV finished at 6-over par. The Owls’ admirable scores bumped them up to eighth place to round out the two-day competition. 

Oakes accumulated the lowest total score for Kenyon, a striking 2-under par over all three rounds. Koonar placed second for the Owls, just 5-over par. Gray followed at 11-over par, with Jordan next at 13-over-par and, finally, Frias IV at 15-over par. 

The Owls look forward to building on their accomplishments next week at the NCAA DIII Fall Preview in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.