Wildcats Set to Take on Crooked Stick
2017-18 Season Stats
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2017-18 edition of the Kentucky men’s golf team entered the year boasting a slew of talented and experienced players. However, the start this squad has gotten off to is downright historic.
Kentucky has played in two events thus far and brought home two team trophies. It’s the first time under head coach Brian Craig that has happened. The 2004-05 squad won two of its first three events before claiming the 2005 Southeastern Conference trophy later that season.
UK isn’t just winning the titles, however. The Cats are setting new program records in the process.
In their last event, the Wildcats set the 54-hole team score record in the Craig era with an 820 score. It bettered the previous record by 19 strokes. During the second round of play, the Wildcats set the single-round score of 269 en route to winning the event by six strokes.
Beginning on Monday, the Wildcats will begin play in their third fall event. UK will take on Crooked Stick Golf Club, a featured course on the PGA Tour, for a two-day 54-hole event. The 12-team field will play 36-continuos holes on Monday before a final 18 on Tuesday.
Kentucky, which is ranked No. 10 in the country by Golfweek, will enter the tournament as the highest-rated team. South Carolina is ranked No. 28, Illinois is 29th and North Florida at 36 rounds out the top-50 teams in the field.
Coach Craig’s Takeaway
“Crooked Stick is one of the finest golf courses and golf experiences in all of the US. We are so fortunate to get to compete on this championship course that has hosted a PGA Championship and the BMW Championship just to name a few. In golf, your main competitor is the golf course and we have our work cut out for us this week. The guys cannot wait for the challenge.”
Lineup Profiles
Chip McDaniel: Enters the third tournament of the fall owning the best stroke average on the team at 70.33. He also owns the team low round with a 66 during the opening round of the Bearcat Invitational. That round jumpstarted his tournament en route to his third career individual victory. He shot a 201, which is the second-lowest round in the Brian Craig era for the tournament.
Cooper Musselman: He leads the team with a pair of top-10 finishes to open the season. He tied for seventh at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate before turning in a tie for ninth at the Bearcat Invitational. Through six rounds of action this season he owns a 71.17 stroke average and has garnered four par-or-better rounds. He tied his career-low tournament score with a 207 at the Bearcat Invitational.
Lukas Euler: After earning his career-best finish with a tie for third at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, he followed with a career-low tournament score of 209 at the Bearcat Invitational. Euler has four par-or-better rounds on the year and a pair of top-20 finishes. He is averaging a 70.83 stroke average per round through two events.
Fred Allen Meyer: Meyer posted a top-15 finish for the first time this season at the Bearcat Invitational with a career-low tournament score of 208. He is shooting 72.50 for the season with three par-or-better rounds and five of six rounds counting towards UK’s team score. He shot a career-low 68 during the second round of the Bearcat Invitational to help lead to an 11th-place showing.
Jacob Cook: He will make his first collegiate start for the Wildcats at Crooked Stick. He opened his collegiate career at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate where he played as an individual earlier this fall. Cook tied for 75th with a low round of 77 during the event.
The Tournament Setup
Teams: Ball State, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, IUPUI, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Florida, Purdue, South Carolina, Toledo, Xavier
Course Details: Crooked Stick Golf Club was built in 1964 by Pete and Alice Dye and hosted the PGA Championship in 1991. It has been rated as one of the top 100 courses by Golfweek and Golf Magazine.
Format: Par 72, 7,290 yards – Play five and count four scores
Schedule of Play: 54 total holes; 36 continuous holes on Day 1, Final 18 holes on Day 2
Monday, Oct. 16 – Rounds 1-2 (Shotgun start at 9 a.m. ET)
Tuesday, Oct. 17 – Round 3 (Tee times start at 9 a.m. ET off of No. 1 and No. 10)
Live Look: Live stats are available via golfstat.com.
Forecast: Monday (High of 59 and sunny), Tuesday (High of 64 and sunny)
History at the Crooked Stick Invitational
Years Participated: 2015
Best Finish: 4th – 2015
Returning Player Finishes From 2015: Chip McDaniel (2nd), Cooper Musselman (T20th)
Noteworthy: Chip McDaniel went under par in the first two rounds en route to finishing second
Upcoming Schedule
Oct. 28-29 Steelwood Collegiate Invitational Loxley, Alabama
Feb. 18-20 Puerto Rico Classic Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
March 10-11 General Hackler Collegiate Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Agate
Kentucky
1 – Chip McDaniel
2 – Cooper Musselman
3 – Lukas Euler
4 – Fred Allen Meyer
5 – Jacob Cook
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
