Bettel Bounces Back, Climbs NCAA Auburn Regional Leaderboard
OPELIKA, Ala. – If Leonie Bettel is going to have any shot of making it to the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career, she knew it would take a big turnaround Tuesday on the scorecard.
The good news for the talented and 2018-19 three-time champion, minor adjustments Monday paid big dividends Tuesday.
The Kentucky women’s golf senior shaved 12 shots off her first-round score and fired a 1-under-par 71 in the second round of the NCAA Auburn Regional. Tied for 69th place with 18 holes left to play, she still has a lot of work to do to earn one of the three individual spots for the NCAA Championships, but she’s at least given herself a chance with a satisfying bounce-back round Tuesday at the Saugahatchee Country Club (par 72, 6,371 yards) in Opelika, Alabama.
The round was gratifying, if for nothing else, because of the work she’s put in this season to prepare for this moment and to see it go right Tuesday after nothing went right the day before. Bettel and UK head coach Golda Borst also spent significant time on the practice range after Monday’s round adjusting her distance control.
“Going off that 83 yesterday, I was obviously quite disappointed in what I did on the course,” Bettel said. “It was just one of those days where nothing really worked out. Golda and I were out on the course trying to figure out what gave ourselves the best opportunities and prepare well for the shot, but execution part just did not work yesterday.
“There wasn’t really an active change. Today, probably because I had a couple of shots in the first couple of holes that got closer than yesterday, it gave me more confidence and gave me some momentum.”
Bettel will head into Wednesday’s finale needing another low score to be in the conversation for continuing her Kentucky career. The low three individuals who are not on the advancing six teams from the Auburn Regional march on to the NCAA Championships, which will be played May 17-22 at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Of course, Bettel proved again Tuesday she’s capable of going low, extending her school-record mark of par or better rounds to 14. She will likely need to dip into the 60s Wednesday to advance – she has six of those this season, including a 65 in the final round of her Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship title performance – but Bettel is not focused on that heading into what could be her final round as a Wildcat.
“I’m just going to go out there and play,” Bettel said. “If I can make a move up the leaderboard that’s great; if not, I’m just going to enjoy that round because it will be my last as a UK Wildcat.”
Perhaps the biggest difference in Bettel’s play Tuesday was her confidence. Going off No. 10 to start the second round, she got a much-needed boost when she birdied her opening hole on the 535-yard par 5.
After recording her first birdie of the regional, Bettel took the momentum and ran with it. Two holes later, she birdied No. 12, and following three straight pars, she birdied the par-3 16th.
She finished her first nine at 3-under par.
“It was definitely really important (to get some early birdies), especially since yesterday I kept trying and kept trying and didn’t get a birdie for 18 holes,” Bettel said. “Starting off the round with a birdie lightened up the mood a lot and then having another one on the third hole definitely helped a lot.”
The second nine wasn’t quite as smooth as her 33 on the back nine, but she responded nicely to a pair of bogeys and a double bogey with two more birdies. In all, she recorded five birdies Tuesday.
The final round will begin Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET with Bettel slated to tee off at 9:50 a.m. ET. Live stats will continue to be available at GolfStat.com. Fans can also follow along on the official Kentucky women’s golf social media channels, @KentuckyWGolf.
Bettel, who is on pace for the best single-season average in school history, is making her third career postseason appearance. She was one of 24 individuals selected for the four NCAA regional sites. She tied for 59th as a freshman in 2016 and tied for 57th in 2017 as a sophomore in her previous regional experience.
Seventy-two teams and 24 individuals were selected to compete at one of the four regional sites, each featuring 18 teams and six individuals. From regional competition, 24 teams (the low six teams from each regional) and 12 individuals (the low three individuals not on those teams) will advance to the national championships. The other three regional tournaments are in East Lansing, Michigan; Norman, Oklahoma; and Cle Elum, Washington.
The midseason ANNIKA Award candidate has five top-10 finishes this season with two additional top-20 showings. Those include the championship at the Mercedes-Benz, the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational and the Clover Cup.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
