SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Kentucky Wesleyan men's golf team completed play at the Saint Leo Invitational as part of a loaded field to open their 2026 spring season.
The Panthers, who finished 17th with an overall tally of 911, competed against six of the nation's top 25 teams and 10 of the nation's top 50 teams.
Freshman Ben Carter led the way for Wesleyan in the 99-player field. Carter shot a 220 (+4), including an even-par round one, to finish T-57th.
Sophomore Braydon Bond was next in line for KWC, slotting in at T-84th with a tally of 228 (+12). Bond impressed with his consistency, shooting a 76 in all three rounds.
Senior Jonathan Kaminski and freshman Ryan Loiars both finished T-89th with scores of 233 (+17), and junior Thomas Scott rounded out the Panthers' effort with a score of 241 (+25).
"There were a number of positives to build off of," head coach Ken Badylak said. "Our par 3 scoring average was good. We hit a good number of greens. We still need to improve on par 5 scoring. For the first time out, we made mistakes that were expected. Since we haven't seen grass until this week, our expectations were to outperform our scoring average. We fell just short of that goal but improved upon our performance last season at this same event."
"Moving forward, we will need to clean up three putts and penalty strokes," Badylak continued. "This is the toughest field we will see this season. Sometimes you need to see firsthand what 'good' looks like and notice it's not much different from yourself."
South Florida's Nino Palmquist, who was playing unattached, took home the individual championship by three strokes with a score of 202 (-14), including a seven-under 65 in round three.
Florida Southern narrowly defeated host Saint Leo for the team title, winning by two strokes with an overall tally of 839.
The Kentucky Wesleyan men's golf team now turns their attention to the Saddlebrook Spring Kickoff in Wesley Chapel, Florida, from March 3-5. The Kentucky Wesleyan women's golf team will join them on the trip and compete on those same two days.
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