The Kentucky men?s golf team struggled in its final nine holes at the opening round of the NCAA Championships, falling to 11-over par and a tie for 21st place with a score of 291. Georgia leads the tournament, which is being played at Caves Valley Golf Course in Hunt Valley, Md., with a six-under par performance in the opening round.
The 11th-ranked Wildcats were three-over par at the turn on Wednesday, but bogied or worse 14 times on the second nine holes to finish at 11-over. Senior John Holmes was even at 70 for the day, while Mark Blakefield finished two-over (72) on the afternoon. Both Holmes and Blakefield counted four birdies in Wednesday?s opening round.
Brandon Waldrop was four-over par (74) on the day, while Matt Wells finished five-over (75). Georgia?s Kevin Kisner and Augusta State?s Major Manning lead the field with five-under par (65) performances Wednesday.
The team will look to improve its standing Thursday morning with an 8:30 a.m. tee time. Play continues Friday before the field is cut to 10 teams for Saturday?s final round.
NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP
Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Md.
FIRST-ROUND LEADERS (Top 15 teams and ties) Georgia 274 (-6) Tennessee 279 (-1) Arizona 282 UNLV 284 Coastal Carolina 284 Brigham Young 285 Augusta State 286 Georgia Southern 286 Georgia State 287 SMU 287 Wake Forest 287 Georgia Tech 288 Duke 288 Arkansas 288 Florida 289 New Mexico 289 Washington 289 *field will be cut to 15 teams after 54 holes, ties will be played off INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Kevin Kisner, Georgia 65 (-5) Major Manning, Augusta State 65 (-5) Aron Price, Georgia Southern 66 (-4) Five tied at 67 (-3) Five tied at 68 (-2) TEAMS AND PARTICIPANTS 1 Georgia 274 274 T1 Kevin Kisner 65 65 T9 Brendon Todd 68 68 T14 Chris Kirk 69 69 T49 Richard Scott 72 72 T49 David Denham 72 72 2 Tennessee, Univ. of 279 279 T4 Ross McGowan 67 67 T14 Philip Pettitt 69 69 T33 David Skinns 71 71 T49 John Scott Rattan 72 72 T129 Ben Spickard 77 77 3 Arizona 282 282 T9 Travis Esway 68 68 T33 Josh Esler 71 71 T33 Nathan Lashley 71 71 T49 Brian Prouty 72 72 T87 Henry Liaw 74 74 T4 UNLV 284 284 T14 Ryan Keeney 69 69 T21 Andres Gonzales 70 70 T49 Ryan Moore 72 72 T71 Travis Whisman 73 73 T87 Jarred Texter 74 74 T4 Coastal Carolina 284 284 T14 Dustin Johnson 69 69 T33 Lindsay Renolds 71 71 T49 Moises Cobo 72 72 T49 Zack Byrd 72 72 T137 Brad Robinson 78 78 6 Brigham Young Univ. 285 285 T4 Oscar Alvarez 67 67 T49 Jake Ellison 72 72 T49 Ron Harvey, Jr. 72 72 T87 Greg Machtaler 74 74 T143 Nick Becker 79 79 T7 Georgia Southern 286 286 3 Aron Price 66 66 T21 David Palm 70 70 T71 Kurt Watkins 73 73 T129 Jon David Kennedy 77 77 T137 Bryan Jones 78 78 T7 Augusta State 286 286 T1 Major Manning 65 65 T33 Kalle Edberg 71 71 T49 Emmett Turner 72 72 T137 Scott Jamieson 78 78 T143 Mike Keast 79 79 T9 SMU 287 287 T14 Will Dodson 69 69 T33 Scott Abbott 71 71 T71 Colt Knost 73 73 T87 Wes Homan 74 74 * Dan Kleckner D D T9 Georgia State Univ. 287 287 T33 Ben Taylor 71 71 T33 Steve Tiley 71 71 T49 Ty Harris 72 72 T71 Darren Baynes 73 73 T71 Joel Sjoholm 73 73 T9 Wake Forest Univ. 287 287 T9 Webb Simpson 68 68 T14 Sean Moore 69 69 T33 Doug Manchester 71 71 T143 Chris McCartin 79 79 T143 Kyle Reifers 79 79 T12 Duke University 288 288 T21 Michael Schachner 70 70 T21 Ryan Blaum 70 70 T87 Jake Grodzinsky 74 74 T87 Nathan Smith 74 74 T123 Michael Quagliano 76 76 T12 Georgia Tech 288 288 T14 Roberto Castro 69 69 T33 Michael Barbosa 71 71 T71 Chan Song 73 73 T107 Nicholas Thompson 75 75 T129 Kevin Larsen 77 77 T12 Arkansas, U. of 288 288 T21 Beau Glover 70 70 T33 Matt Bortis 71 71 T71 Josh Farrell 73 73 T87 Scott Campbell 74 74 T150 Eric Shriver 81 81 T15 New Mexico 289 289 T33 Miguel Griego 71 71 T49 Spencer Levin 72 72 T71 Mark Anderson 73 73 T71 Jay Choi 73 73 T107 Madalitso Muthiya 75 75 T15 Florida 289 289 T4 James Vargas 67 67 T87 Richard Treis 74 74 T87 Brett Stegmaier 74 74 T87 Matt Every 74 74 T107 Manuel Villegas 75 75 T15 Washington 289 289 T21 James Lepp 70 70 T33 Joe Panzeri 71 71 T87 Zach Bixler 74 74 T87 Erik Olson 74 74 T123 Alex Prugh 76 76 T18 Southern California 290 290 T33 Joshua Wooding 71 71 T49 Bradley Shaw 72 72 T49 Taylor Wood 72 72 T107 Tyler Ley 75 75 T107 Ben Hayes 75 75 T18 San Diego State 290 290 T33 Josh Warthen 71 71 T49 Andrew Scott 72 72 T71 Linus Nilsson 73 73 T87 Gilberto Rodriguez 74 74 T107 Aaron Choi 75 75 T18 Tulsa 290 290 T4 Mitch Cohlmia 67 67 T49 Ryan Henry 72 72 T107 Sam Korbe 75 75 T123 Austin Hackett 76 76 T129 Brett Myers 77 77 T21 Alabama, U. of 291 291 T21 Mark Harrell 70 70 T71 Clint Provost 73 73 T87 Joseph Sykora 74 74 T87 Gator Todd 74 74 T107 Thomas Hagler 75 75 T21 Kentucky, U. of 291 291 T21 John Holmes 70 70 T49 Mark Blakefield 72 72 T87 Brandon Waldrop 74 74 T107 Matt Wells 75 75 T123 Matt Kohn 76 76 T21 Arizona State U. 291 291 T21 Niklas Lemke 70 70 T71 Charly Simon 73 73 T71 Alejandro Canizares 73 73 T107 Pat Moore 75 75 T137 Jesse Mueller 78 78 24 Oklahoma State 292 292 T21 Alex Noren 70 70 T49 Pablo Martin 72 72 T87 Zack Robinson 74 74 T123 Tyler Leon 76 76 T129 Ryan Posey 77 77 T25 Stanford University 296 296 T21 Zack Miller 70 70 T33 Rob Grube 71 71 T123 Kevin Blue 76 76 T143 Matthew Savage 79 79 T143 Pat Phillips 79 79 T25 Texas AMUniversity 296 296 T9 Robert Gates 68 68 T49 Jerad Harklau 72 72 T107 David Schultz 75 75 T150 Martin Piller 81 81 T150 Andrew Parr 81 81 27 Texas 298 298 T21 Matthew Rosenfeld 70 70 T71 Matthew Mills 73 73 T129 Shaun Goodwin 77 77 T137 Jeff Bell 78 78 T150 Farren Keenan 81 81 T28 Purdue 299 299 T71 Peter Richardson 73 73 T87 Pariya Junhasavasdikul 74 74 T107 Bobby Bennett 75 75 T129 Santiago Russi 77 77 T137 Dustin Cone 78 78 T28 UCLA 299 299 T71 Kevin Chappell 73 73 T87 Chris Heintz 74 74 T107 Daniel Im 75 75 T129 John Poucher 77 77 T150 Joakim Renstrom 81 81 30 Missouri, U. of 300 300 T49 Shawn Jasper 72 72 T87 John Kelly 74 74 T107 Chris Mabry 75 75 T143 Trent Twaddle 79 79 T150 Ben Scott 81 81
