April 25, 2003
Sea Island, Ga. –
The University of Kentucky men’s golf team finished the first round of the Southeastern Conference Men’s Golf Tournament in ninth place on Friday. The Cats fired a 23-over par 303 on the first day leaving them 15 strokes behind tournament leader Georgia, which finished with a 288 (+8). Rounding out the top five are Tennessee, Auburn, which won last year’s tournament, Florida and Alabama. A four-hour weather delay plagued Friday’s first round at the par-70, 6,885 yard Sea Side Golf Course, causing the majority of the teams to play until approximately 8 p.m. ET.
Sophomore Brandon Waldrop led the Cats on day one, firing a 2-over par 72 to find himself tied for 11th place. Fellow sophomore Mark Blakefield finished three strokes behind Waldrop to land in 22nds place with a five-over 75. Freshman Matt Kohn finished with a 7-over par 77, while sophomore John Holmes shot a nine-over 79 and senior Ryan Coyne shot an 80.
“Given the weather conditions I’d say we played all right,” Coach Brian Craig said. “Hopefully we can come out tomorrow and do even better and move up a little bit.”
Because of the severe weather, just four golfers were able to shoot under par on the day. Georgia’s Kevin Kisner and Florida’s Brett Stegmaier are tied for the lead a 3-under par, while Auburn’s Will Claxton is in third at two under and David Denham, also from Georgia, is in fourth at one under. Three other golfers are tied for fifth after shooting an even-par 70 on Friday.
Agate:
Teams
1. Georgia288 (+8)
2. Tennessee289 (+9)
3. Auburn291 (+11)
4. Florida292 (+12)
5. Alabama293 (+13)
6. South Carolina298 (+18)
7. Arkansas299 (+19)
8. Vanderbilt302 (+22)
9. Kentucky303 (+23)
10. Ole Miss304 (+24)
11. Mississippi State313 (+33)
12. Louisiana State315 (+35)
Top-5 Players
T1 Kevin KisnerUGA67 (-3)
T1 Bret StegmaierUF67 (-3)
3 Will ClaxtonAU68 (-2)
4 David DenhamUGA69 (-1)
T5 Mark DonnellVU70 (E)
T5 Eirik JohansenUSC70 (E)
T5 Lee WilliamsAU70 (E)
Kentucky Players
T11 Brandon Waldrop72 (+2)
T22 Mark Blakefield75 (+5)
T37 Matt Kohn77 (+7)
T44 John Holmes79 (+9)
T48 Ryan Coyne80 (+10)
