Sihota Paces Men's Golf to Sixth Place at Kepler

COLUMBUS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – Bavake Sihota tied for fifth place while Tim Chan and Rory McDonald-O'Brien finished in the top 20 to help the Eastern Michigan University men's golf team to a sixth-place showing at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio, April 18-19, the Eagles' final regular season tournament. The Eagles battled windy conditions on the par-72, 7,455-yard Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club to finish ahead of two times ranked ahead of them, including No. 45 Colorado State University and No. 106 University of Minnesota.

The Eagles finished sixth overall at 41-over 893 (297-296-300) with host No. 84 Ohio State winning the team title at 24-over 876 (296-296-284). No. 82 University of Nebraska was second at 32-over 884 (297-292-295) while No. 80 Kent State University was third at 35-over 887 (295-300-292). Eastern's sixth-place finish positioned them ahead of the Golden Gophers of UM, who placed seventh at 50-over 902 (300-300-302), and the ninth-place Rams of CSU, who shot 60-over 912 (313-301-912).

Eastern, who defeated the Big Ten Conference's Minnesota for the second time this season, ranked second in the 13-team field on par 3s at 17-over while ranking fifth on par 5s at even-par. EMU also was second as a team with 35 birdies, trailing only the Buckeyes' 38, while ranking second for fewest double bogies or worse with just five (Nebraska led with four).

Individually, Sihota (Caledon, Ontario/Independent Learning Center/Michigan) shot 4-over 217 (70-75-72) to finish in a three-way tie with No. 91 Jordan Gilkison of Kent State (71-75-71) and Creighton University's Grent Feldman (72-75-70). Sihota posted his second-best 54-hole score with the senior's best of 216 coming March 24-25 at the Bell Bank 'Pay It Forward' Intercollegiate. Overall, his fifth-place finish is the best of his career and marks the first top 10 and top 20 showing of his career.

Two Eagles tied for 20th to give the Eagles a trio of top 20 finishers. Chan (Hong Kong, China/Loretto School/New Mexico JC/VCU)(77-72-76) and McDonald-O'Brien (Shrewsbury, England/Shrewsbury School/South Carolina Aiken)(74-75-76) both finished 12-over 225 in the event with Chan leading all players in the tournament by shooting 1-under on par 3s, making him one of only four players to shoot even or better and the only one under par. James Baxter (London, England/Highlands School & Sixth Form) finished tied for 26th at 13-over 226 (76-74-76) while Daniel Robles Delval (Albacete, Spain/Escuela Nacional Blume/Rogers State) tied for 56th at 22-over 235 (78-76-81).

Up Next
The next time the Eagles step on the course to compete, they will do so for conference gold as the 2025 Mid-American Conference Championships await them April 27-29 at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio. The three-day tournament just south of Columbus will see nine teams compete for team and individual crowns with action starting each day at 9 a.m.

Results
Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
Ohio State University Golf Club - Scarlet Course • Columbus, Ohio
Par 72 • 7,455 yards • 54 holes
Friday-Saturday, April 18-19, 2025
Team Standings
1. #84 Ohio State • 296-296-284=876 (+24)
2. #82 Nebraska • 297-292-295=884 (+32)
3. #80 Kent State • 295-300-292=887 (+35)
4. Kansas City • 291-299-300=890 (+38)
5. Cal Poly • 305-290-297=892 (+40)
6. Eastern Michigan • 297-296-300=893 (+41)
7. Minnesota • 300-300-302=902 (+50)
8. St. John's • 302-306-303=911 (+59)
9. #45 Colorado State • 313-301-298=912 (+60)
10. St. Thomas (MN) • 303-305-306=914 (+62)
11. Creighton • 304-312-305=921 (+69)
12. Omaha • 311-309-304=924 (+72)
13. Tarleton State • 298-313-316=927 (+75)
only top 100 rankings listed

Individual Results (Top 10 + EMU)
1. #129 Baron Szeto (CPU) • 72-67-69=208 (-5)
2. Topher Reed (OSU) • 73-71-70=214 (+1)
3. Peicheng Chen (SJU) • 69-71-75=215 (+2)
4. Timotej Formanek (OSU) • 73-70-73=216 (+3)
5. Bavake Shiota (EMU) • 70-75-72=217 (+4)
5. #91 Jordan Gilkison (KSU) • 71-75-71=217 (+4)
5. Grent Feldman (CRE) • 72-75-70=217 (+4)
8. Vaughn Harber (OSU) • 74-72-72=218 (+5)
9. Mason Haley (KC) • 71-72-76=219 (+6)
10. Joshuaa Robards (KC) • 71-76-73=220 (+7)
10. Isaiah Ibit (KSU) • 73-76-71=220 (+7)
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t20. Rory McDonald-O'Brien • 74-75-76=225 (+12)
t20. Tim Chan • 77-72-76=225 (+12)
t26. James Baxter • 76-74-76=226 (+13)
t56. Daniel Robles Delval • 78-76-81=235 (+22)
only top 200 rankings listed

Next Event

Players Mentioned

James Baxter

Tim Chan

Rory McDonald-O'Brien

Daniel Robles Delval

Bavake Sihota

Eastern Michigan Athletics