UK Women’s Golf to Host Kent State for One-Day Match
LEXINGTON, Ky. – In preparation for the stretch run of the season and the newly formatted Southeastern Conference Championship, the Kentucky women’s golf team has added a one-day match with Kent State to its schedule.
The Wildcats will go head to head with the Golden Flashes on Thursday on the Big Blue Course at the University Club of Kentucky. Mirroring the new format for the SEC Championship and NCAA Championships, a portion of which both now feature match play, Thursday’s meeting will be match play only.
Kentucky’s five golfers will go against Kent State’s five in a hole-by-hole competition. The player who wins the most holes is awarded a point, and the first team to three points wins the match. There will also be an individual matchup as well.
“We are looking forward to playing in a match vs. Kent State on Thursday,” UK women’s golf head coach Golda Borst said. “This match was added to our schedule very recently and it provides us with an opportunity to practice playing match play at a very high level before we head into the SEC Championship. Kent State is one of the strongest teams in the country and we can’t wait to face off against them over 18 holes on our home track.”
Using the same veteran lineup that earned the Wildcats a season-best third-place finish at the Clover Cup two weeks ago in Mesa, Arizona, UK will roll out junior Leonie Bettel (tee time: 11:08 a.m.), seniors Grace Rose (11 a.m.), Isabelle Johansson (10:52 a.m.) and Ale Walker (10:44 a.m.), and sophomore Sarah Shipley (10:36 a.m.). Junior Claire Carlin (10:36 a.m.) will also play in a head-to-head match as an individual only.
Kent State will counter Kentucky with Pimnipa Pathong (11:08 a.m.), Kory Nielsen (11 a.m.), Chloe Salort (10:52 a.m.), Karoline Stormo (10:44 a.m.) and Michaela Finn (10:36 a.m.). Marissa Kirkwood will face Carlin at 10:36 a.m.
The Golden Flashes will be a formidable tune-up for the Wildcats during their most important time of the season. Ranked 19th in the country, Kent State has finished in the top five in eight of its nine tournaments this season, including winning the Mid-American Match Play Challenge in dominating fashion in early February and a championship at the Hennsler Financial Intercollegiate earlier this week.
Kent State has become a mainstay in NCAA postseason play, including a fifth-place national finish at last season’s NCAA Championships.
UK’s stiff competition appears to be the perfect test for what lies ahead over the next month. The Wildcats will close their regular-season schedule next week, April 6-8, at the Bryan National Collegiate in Browns Summit, North Carolina, before postseason play begins. The SEC Championship will follow two weeks later, April 20-22, at the Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama. After that it’s the NCAA regionals in May.
Kentucky’s last outing, at the Clover Cup out west, featured three Wildcats in the top 15, led by Bettel tying for sixth place. It tied a career-best showing for her in a tournament and featured a first-round 69, her second-best score of the season.
Shipley is coming off the best tournament of her collegiate career at the Clover Cup. She recorded her best finish in a tournament (tied for ninth), recorded a new 54-hole career low (3-over-par 219) and a posted a career-best 18-hole score (68 in the second round). Shipley has experienced previous success in match play, having won the individual bracket at the 2016 East & West Match Play Challenge.
Walker also joined Bettel and Shipley in the top 15, in a tie for 13th place. Her score of 5-over par was especially promising after a five-month layoff due to injury. Now in the twilight of her college career, the Wildcats have gotten back a key piece of their team at the right time.
Johansson and Rose, tied for 32nd and 37th, respectively, didn’t display their typical success, but their track records indicate their Clover Cup performances were anomalies more than anything else. They’ve been UK’s most consistent golfers this season with a team-high-tying three top-20 finishes apiece. Johansson lays claim to two top-10 showings while Rose owns UK’s lone individual championship of the season, co-championship honors at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in the fall.
Carlin will be making her eighth appearance of the season but first career appearance in a match-play format.
Kentucky’s last match-play competition was the fall of 2016 at the East & West Match Play Challenge in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wildcats dropped both of their team matches there but gained valuable experience in the changing landscape of golf competition. Johansson, Walker and Shipley all played in that tournament.
Thursday’s match will mark the second home event of the season for UK. The Wildcats hosted the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in the fall for the first time since 2011. Rose shared individual honors in that tournament while Kentucky finished in fourth as a team.
The Big Blue Course will play as a par 72 at 6,069 yards. The forecast calls for rain for much of the day with highs in the mid-60s.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
