After a month-long layoff from competition, the Penn State men's golf team participated in the FirstEnergy Collegiate tournament Friday and Saturday, finishing fourth out of 15 teams.

The match, held at Kent State's home course of Windmill Lakes Golf Club in Ravenna, Ohio, was marked by blustery, overcast weather. Kent State won the 54-hole tournament by shooting a plus-17 857, defeating second-place finisher Miami of Ohio by 18 strokes.

Recording a plus-38 878, Penn State shot 300-289-289 and missed the runner-up position by four strokes.

The top individual finishers for the Nittany Lions were senior Jim Fuller and junior Ted Neville, who shot identical scores of 74-70-72 for a total of plus-six 216.

Brad Heaven of Toledo and Peter Laws of Kent State both shot scores of even par for the tournament, with Heaven winning the first playoff hole to gain the individual crown.

Penn State golfer Greg Pieczynski tied for 15th with a plus-nine 219, Andrew Price penciled in a plus-17 227 on the scorecard, and Jonas Hyden, who filled in for the injured Mark Leon, finished with a plus-30 score of 240.

Kent State owned the par-70, 6,936-yard course and the 14 other teams that competed on it. The Golden Flashes shot a final-round 278 to defeat Miami, who led after two rounds of competition by two shots.

A difficult course with fast greens and long distances off of the tees, Windmill Lakes was markedly different than last year's course, the Firestone Golf Club.

Penn State has consistently found success in the FirstEnergy Collegiate, finishing second last year after losing a playoff hole to champion Toledo.

The tournament served as Penn State's first competition in roughly a month, a period that was marked by inconsistent weather that caused the cancellation of last weekend's Princeton Invitational.

Next weekend, the Blue Course will be the site of the Rutherford Intercollegiate, a tournament Penn State won last year.