Kentucky Shoots 1-Under in Final Round, Ties for 11th at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – It was a resurgent Wednesday for the Kentucky women’s golf team, who pulled out a T11 finish at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate courtesy of a 1-under par effort in the final round at Long Cove Club (par 71, 6348 yards).
The Wildcats began the day in a tie for 14th place, but made a move as one of five schools to score under par as a team in round three. They finished tied with Southeastern Conference foe Georgia at 28-over par for the tournament on a crowded leaderboard.
After rounds of 301 (+17) and 296 (+12) on days one and two, UK responded with a 283 (-1) in the final round, the program’s best 18-hole score in eight appearances at the Darius Rucker.
The effort was led by a pair of sophomores in Karlie Campbell and C.A. Carter, who both carded under-par rounds on day three. Campbell managed a 2-under tally of 69 to notch a T18 finish in the 90-player field, good for her fourth top 20 of the season. Carter, meanwhile, finished her final round in 1-under par, 70, matching the lowest 18-hole score of her college career.
Cathryn Brown (71, E) and Raleygh Simpson (73, +2) were Kentucky’s other counting scores on Wednesday, while Anatasia Hekkonen signed for a 74 (+3).
The elite, 17-team field included 15 schools ranked inside the top 50 in the country and 11 top-25 teams. Kentucky, who entered the week at No. 34 in the Scoreboard Powered by Clippd rankings, finished ahead of four of those top-25 squads, beating No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 18 South Carolina, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 23 Arizona. Texas won the event as a team at 2-over par.
The Cats combined for 18 birdies during the final round, highlighted by all five players making birdie on hole No. 5 (par 4, 313 yards) and four golfers recoding twos on No. 13 (par 3, 128 yards). In fact, 18 of UK’s 33 birdies for the tournament came during the stellar final round.
Hekkonen, a sophomore from Helinski, Finland, was the birdie leader for the Wildcats with eight on the week, while Campbell tied for the fourth-most pars in the entire field with 39. Brown, Campbell and Simpson were all counting scores for the team in all three rounds.
The Wildcats will next compete March 14-15 at the Valspar Augusta Invitational at Forest Acres Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Scoreboard
T18 Karlie Campbell 73, 74, 69 … 216 (+3)
T41 Anastasia Hekkonen 72, 75, 74 … 221 (+8)
T48 Cathryn Brown 79, 73, 71 … 223 (+10)
T52 Raleygh Simpson 77, 74, 73 … 224 (+11)
T71 C.A. Carter 80, 78, 70 … 228 (+15)
T11 Kentucky 301, 296, 283 … 880 (+28)
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.
