UK Takes Lead into Final Round of Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Against one of the best fields of the collegiate fall schedule, the Kentucky women’s golf team surged into first place Saturday at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
After sending a first-round message that the two-time 2019 fall champions are ready to compete with some of the best teams in the country, the Wildcats served a second-round notice that they’re not satisfied just being in the conversation.
They want to win this thing.
UK will have a great opportunity to do that with a one-shot lead heading into Sunday’s finale at the UNC Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A day after shooting a 5-under-par 283, the Wildcats fired one of the best rounds in school history with a 278.
Sophomore Casey Ott was simply sensational in the second round with a career-low 66 (6-under par) to lead three Kentucky players in red numbers. UK’s 10-under-par round was not only a stroke off the best 18-hole round in school history, it’s moved the Wildcats to the top of an 18-team field that includes seven teams ranked in Golfweek’s latest top-25 rankings.
At 15-under par overall, Kentucky leads No. 2 Wake Forest by a shot with No. 16 Alabama and No. 19 Michigan State lurking two shots behind at 13-undar par. No. 12 Duke, after a 16-under-par round Saturday, has shown it’s still in the mix as well.
It will all be sorted out in the final round, which will begin Sunday at 9:15 a.m. with a shotgun start. Live scoring will continue to be available at GolfStat.com.
“We had another solid round today,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “Our team got after it early in the round and we were able to build on that momentum throughout the day. We stumbled a bit to start the back side but showed some maturity and grit and found some birdies on the last couple to finish off the day. Now we have to continue to stay aggressive, committed and believe in ourselves and stay tough tomorrow.”
This Kentucky group will have an opportunity in the final round to do something no other UK team has done before by winning three straight tournaments in a row. The Wildcats won their first two tournaments of the season, an impressive championship at the Minnesota Invitational and a dominating victory at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, Kentucky’s home tournament.
A victory would make the Wildcats 3-for-3 this season and put UK within one win of the single-season school record for tournament championships, which was four during the 1990-91 season.
UK has put itself in position, but Sunday’s final round expects to be intense given the competition. With one of the strongest fields in golf, ranked teams include No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 8 South Carolina, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 12 Duke, No. 16 Alabama, No. 17 Charlotte and No. 19 Michigan State.
Kentucky raced in front of all of them in a hurry Saturday. The Wildcats took advantage of the shorter front nine with a combined 14 birdies and got as low as 17-under par before the much tougher back nine took a few shots back.
When it was all said and done, Ott rolled in a team-high-tying seven birdies on the day with just one bogey. She birdied four straight holes, starting with No. 3.
At 6-under par overall, Ott is just a shot back of co-leaders Jaravee Boonchant (Duke) and Valery Plata (Michigan State). It’s familiar territory for the sophomore from Conway, Arkansas, who has finished in the top 10 in four of her last seven college tournaments.
Junior Rikke Svejgård Nielsen, coming off a first-round 70, contributed to the second-round birdie barrage with four of her own. A bogey and a double bogey held her in check with a 71. At 3-under par through 36 holes, she’s tied for 13th and in search of her seventh top-20 showing in 13 collegiate starts.
Freshman Jensen Castle is looking to make it 3-for-3 in top-20 finishes. She’s in a tie for 18th after carding an even-par 72 in the second round.
Right there with her at 2-under par is senior Sarah Shipley. She fired a season-low 69, one shot off a career best. The senior from Hastings, Michigan, tied Ott with seven birdies in the second round and is among the tournament leaders with 11 of them. Her only undoing Saturday was four back-nine bogeys.
Freshman Marissa Wenzler is tied for 46th at 2-over par. Another sign of the strength of this UK team was that her 75 – an average score on the collegiate level – was her highest round of the season and not counted for the team score.
The Tar Heel Invitational was a traditional stop of the Wildcats until recently with the most recent appearance taking place in the fall of 2015. Kentucky has won the tournament twice, in 1983 and 1989.
The lineup this weekend is the same group that defended the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational championship two weeks ago. Four of the five were in Woodbury, Minnesota, the for the Minnesota Invitational.
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.
