UK Women’s Golf Edges No. 16 Kent State in Match-Play Playoff
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s golf team showed it has the talent – and the toughness – to compete with anyone in the country with a win over nationally ranked Kent State on Thursday.
Under rainy and windy conditions throughout the round, the Wildcats came back and edged perennial power KSU with a 3-2 victory at the University Club of Kentucky (Big Blue Course, par 72, 6,069 yards). Junior Leonie Bettel, in the match-deciding pairing, came from behind to defeat Kent State’s Pimnipa Pathong – the 35th-ranked player in the country – on the second playoff hole to win 1 up in 20 holes and seal the victory.
Bettel stuck her second shot from the rough on the backside of the green on the par-4 11th hole and two-putted for par. Pimnipa drove her tee shot into the right rough, landed short of the green and then missed her par putt from five feet. Bettel rolled in a four-foot downhill putt for the win.
“During the regular round, I was pretty much in the same spot and I lost that hole because I made a bad shot out of that area,” Bettel said. “The second time I was like, OK, I’m not going to make that same mistake again. I just kept calm, kept breathing, and did my routine and executed well.”
VICTORY!!!! @fairyleo_ wins it on the second playoff hole!!! Showed amazing toughness in this weather. pic.twitter.com/45A4Fv5XV4
— Kentucky W. Golf (@KentuckyWGolf) March 29, 2018
The victory – with the two teams following along on the course as everything else was decided – completed a late comeback for the Wildcats. Other than sophomore Sarah Shipley, who was in control for much of her match, Kentucky trailed in its other four matchups at some point during the back nine.
The turning point appeared to come on the par-5 16th hole. Tied 1-1 with a victory from Shipley (3 and 2) and a loss by senior Ale Walker (3 and 2), senior Isabelle Johansson rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe to tie her match.
That was all the momentum Johansson needed as she won the next two holes to get UK’s second point, a 2-up victory.
Senior Grace Rose lost her pairing, 2 and 1, while Johansson was busy finishing off KSU’s Chloe Salort, but the table was set for the deciding match.
Down a hole, Bettel got even when Pathong dropped her shot in the drink on No. 16. From there, the two traded pars over the next three holes, each sinking key, matching-saving putts until they got to No. 11. There, Bettel won it.
“Very good win today by our Wildcats,” said assistant coach Brian May, who was filling in for head coach Golda Borst. “Kent State is a top-20 team with very good match-play experience. Our girls handled the pressure of the match and the rainy conditions very well.”
The victory follows a season-best third-place showing at the Clover Cup two weeks ago, another sign that Kentucky is piecing it all together at the right time.
Ranked 16th 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. The Golden Flashes have become a mainstay in NCAA postseason play, including a fifth-place national finish at last season’s NCAA Championships.
In other words, beating Kent State was a big momentum-building victory for the Wildcats heading into the final leg of the season. UK’s final regular-season tournament is next week at the Bryan National Collegiate in Browns Summit, North Carolina. After that it’s on to the postseason for the Southeastern Conference Championship, April 20-22, and then NCAA regionals.
Both the SEC Championship and the NCAA Championships – which the Wildcats have aimed to make for the first time as a team since 1992 – feature match play.
“With match play now a part of our SEC championship, being able to compete in this format should give us great confidence as we get closer to the postseason,” May said. “We now have a few more practice sessions before we head to Browns Summit for the last regular-season event next weekend. We are looking to use this victory a springboard to finish off the season strong and head into the SEC tournament firing on all cylinders.”
Junior Claire Carlin competed as an individual vs. Marissa Kirkwood and won her match 1 up on the first playoff hole.
Thursday’s match was the second home event of the season for Kentucky. 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 UK finished in fourth as a team.
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.
