C.A. Carter, Cathryn Brown Finish Top 10 at the Valspar Augusta Invitational
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Wildcats’ women’s golf team landed in third place at the Valspar Augusta Invitational after going 6-over in the final round at Forest Acres Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on Sunday.
The team pulled together a 5-over across three rounds and two days at the event, their second best 54-hole tournament total through eight events this season. Southeastern Conference foe Missouri finished in first place on a 2-under, while Furman squeaked by Kentucky down the stretch to finish in second place on a 2-over across the 54 holes.
In the final round, no player in the young lineup turned in worse than a 2-over. Four players went exactly 2-over, while Raleygh Simpson assembled an even-par.
For Simpson, it was a carer outing at the Valspar.
The sophomore from Kerrville, Texas, didn’t just record one even-par 72, she recorded two even-par 72s this weekend, which are her season bests through 17 rounds and ties her career best through 23 rounds. Those scores combined with her 3-over in the second round gave her a 3-over tournament total, also a career best, to land in a share of 18th place.
In fact, with her even-par in the final round she climbed seven spots on the individual leaderboard to gain her second finish inside the top 20 in 2025-26.
Simpson led the entire field on par-5s this weekend, averaging a half stoke (4.5) and going 6-under on those holes.
For the second time this season, four players actually finished up in the top 20 at the Valspar, including Simpson.
C.A. Carter and Cathryn Brown, a pair of Bluegrass natives, led the team with even-par 216 tournament totals to find a share of eighth place. It marked Carter’s first notch inside the top 10 in the sophomore’s college career, while it marked Brown’s fifth finish in the top 10 this season. Carter’s tournament total also is her career best.
Anastasia Hekkonen went 2-over this weekend after pairing a 71 (-1) and 73 (+1) with a 2-over in the final round on Sunday. She ended up tied for 14th place, which is her fourth finish inside the top 15 this season, with two in the fall and two in the spring thus far.
Karlie Campbell rallied her best scorecard of the event today, a 2-over in the final round, to come up with a 10-over tournament total and a share of 42nd place.
Scorecard
T8 Cathryn Brown 73, 69, 74 … 216 (E)
T8 C.A. Carter 69, 7, 743 … 216 (E)
T14 Anastasia Hekkonen 71, 73, 74 … 218 (+2)
T18 Raleygh Simpson 72, 75, 72 … 219 (+3)
T42 Karlie Campbell 77, 75, 74 … 226 (+10)
3 Kentucky 285, 290, 294 … 869 (+5)
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