Valiant Effort Ends in Playoff on 21st Hole in SEC Semifinals
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Despite a valiant effort that needed a third playoff hole to determine a winner, the Kentucky men’s golf team fell 3-2-0 in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Championship to No. 16-ranked and top-seeded Auburn on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead behind a win from junior Matt Liston. The Tigers then claimed the next two points to take a 2-1 edge paving the way for a down-the-stretch finish. Senior Fred Allen Meyer trailed by a shot heading into the 18th hole and forced a playoff by evening the match to all square. While he played the 19th hole, senior Lukas Euler evened the match at two points apiece with a 1 UP victory. Auburn prevailed on the third playoff hole – the 21st hole contested in the match – to edge the Wildcats by a 3-2-0 score.
“This was one fabulous day of match play. I am so proud of my guys,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “We took an excellent Auburn team to sudden death. It stings right now, but this will absolutely make us better going forward.
“I also have to give a big shout out to our senior co-captain Fred Allen Meyer and Matt Liston. They played great today and led the way. I am so proud of those guys and can’t wait to go compete again with all of them at the NCAA Regional.”
The Tigers earned the top seed in the match play portion of the league championship after winning stroke play by 16 shots over No. 4 Vanderbilt. Auburn then defeated South Carolina by a commanding 4-1-0 score over South Carolina to advance to this afternoon’s match with the Wildcats.
Liston secured the Wildcats their first point of the day by winning 2&1 over Jacob Solomon. Liston wasted little time in jumping out to a lead when he went 1 UP on the opening hole. He did not relinquish that advantage and rode the momentum all the way to the 17th where he clinched the victory.
Euler captured Kentucky its second point with a 1 UP win at the 18th. A par on the final hole earned the win for the Wildcats. Euler led by as many as four during the round, and held on despite a quality effort from the Tigers’ Grayson Huff who made him work until the final hole to claim the point.
Brown, who has played admirably in his first postseason event, fell 6&5 to Brandon Manchero. Mehles, who clinched the winning point for the Wildcats during the quarterfinals round of match play, dropped his match 3&2 to Trace Crowe. A birdie at the 10th got Mehles within one, but Crowe continued to put the pressure on and did not allow Mehles to get back into the match.
Meyer needed to force a playoff on the 18th to give the Cats a chance and did just that by edging Javon Rebula in the clutch. The two played all square on the first of two playoff holes. The Tigers benefited from a bit of misfortune for the Wildcats as Meyer lost his drive and was forced to tee off again on the 21st hole. That proved the difference in the decisive point.
The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals behind a 4-1-0 win over No. 22 Tennessee in the quarterfinals earlier today.
This is the third season in which the SEC Championship has added three rounds of match play which mirrors the NCAA Championship format to determine its conference champion. This is the first season the Wildcats advanced to match play.
Kentucky hopes to have secured a spot in the upcoming NCAA Championship which will unveil a field of 84 teams on May 1 at 9 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel. Should UK earn an at-large bid it will mark the fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Championship for the Wildcats who finished tied for 21st a season ago.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
