Wildcats Sit 14th Following Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Opening Round
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Kentucky women’s golf is in 14th place after going 17-over in the Dairus Rucker Intercollegiate First Round at Long Cove Golf Club (par 71, 6,378) in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The team is just two shots outside of the top 10 and six shots outside of the top five.
The Wildcats kicked off the 54-hole esteemed event on the back nine, which proved to be a challenging start for the team. The Cats, who recorded a combined 20 bogeys and just one birdie on hole Nos. 10-18, fell to the bottom of the team leaderboard for most of the back nine.
However, the young yet experienced lineup, which includes Cathryn Brown, Raleygh Simpson, Anastasia Hekkonen, Karlie Campbell and C.A. Carter, made strides on the much more favorable front nine.
Hekkonen, a sophomore, provided a bright spot Monday, recording just a bogey and a double on the back nine but followed up with two birdies on the front nine. Her 1-over-par 72 was good enough to tie for 15th place after the first round, just one shot outside of the top 10.
She already has three finishes inside the top 10 this season.
Campbell, also a sophomore, was just one stroke behind Hekkoen, putting together a 2-over-par 73. She filed four bogeys through her first 11 holes but she spent the remaining seven holes recording two birdies and five pars. She is in a share of 19th place on the individual leaderboard.
The rest of the lineup includes sophomore Simpson, who went 6-over for T58, junior Brown, who went 8-over for a share of 71st place and sophomore Carter, who earned a 9-over for T76.
The Wildcats will tee off in the second round Tuesday beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET on the front nine, paired with Duke and Vanderbilt.
Fans can follow live scoring here: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239346/scoring/team.
The event will also be broadcast live on Golf Channel on Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:30-5:30 p.m. ET.
Scoreboard
T15 Anastasia Hekkonen 72 (+1)
T19 Karlie Campbell 73 (+2)
T58 Raleygh Simpson 77 (+6)
T71 Cathryn Brown 79 (+8)
T76 C.A. Carter 80 (+9)
14 Kentucky 301 (+17)
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on X, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
