LEXINGTON, Ky.?The No. 23 University of Kentucky women?s golf team sits in fifth place with 18 holes left to play on Monday after shooting a 305 in the second round at the Lady Wildcat Fall Invitational, Sunday.
Leading the way for Kentucky was sophomore Erica Still who had a team-low even-par 72. Still, who fought through an opening day +13, responded in a big way today to move into a tie for 44th place after beginning the day in 64th.
?Erica was a bright spot for us today,? said Head Coach Myra Blackwelder. ?She really bounced back and did what we asked of her today by staying positive and focused for 18 holes.?
The Blue and White are +30 through 36 holes and trail South Florida by just four shots. A trio of Southeastern Conference foes is the tournament?s leaders. Alabama is in first (+6), followed by Florida (+11) and Arkansas (+23). The Lady Razorbacks are just seven shots out in front of Kentucky.
Three players are under par for the tournament on the individual leaderboard. Florida?s Whitney Myers fired a 67 on day two, good for seven-under for the tournament. The Crimson Tide?s Courtney Harter and Camilla Lennarth are six- and five-under, respectively.
Junior Mallory Blackwelder remains in the top-10 after fighting through a bad stretch of three holes on the front nine that put her six-over for the day and four-over for the tournament. The Versailles, Ky., native played two holes six-over, while the remaining 12 she carded an even score.
?Holes seven, eight and nine were just a disaster for our team,? said Myra Blackwelder. ?But, our team took a big step today, because they responded from adversity by birding some holes on the back nine to keep us in the thick of things going into the final day.?
For the first time this season, all seven players in action broke a score of 80. Still (72), and Blackwelder (78) were followed by freshmen Paige Lausier (79) and Louise Ljungstedt (78), sophomore Kristin Vincent (78), and seniors Beth Felts (78) and Elizabeth Dotson (77).
?Although we had some individual disappointments, we collectively made strides today,? said Blackwelder. ?We just need to regroup and be ready to go in the morning.?
In the tournament?s final round, the field will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Live stats for the tournament are available at www.ukathletics.com and www.golfstat.com. Complete coverage of this weekend?s play can be found at the www.ukatheltics.com.
Wildcat Scores
10 Mallory Blackwelder (70-78?148 +4)
T17 Paige Lausier (72-79?151 +7) *
T17 Louise Ljungstedt (73-78–151 +7)
T32 Beth Felts (77-78–155 +11)
T32 Kristin Vincent (77-78–155 +11)*
T44 Erica Still (85-72–157 +13)
T48 Elizabeth Dotson (81-77–158 +14)
* playing as an individual
