UK Women’s Golf Places Eighth at Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Kentucky women’s golf team’s bid for three straight championships – which would have been a program first – fell short in the final round of the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
 
The Wildcats, who entered Sunday’s finale with a one-stroke lead, were unable to hold off a pack of some of the nation’s best teams and slipped to eighth place by the end of a rainy final round at UNC Finley Golf Course (par 72, 6,379 yards) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
 
After just missing the 18-hole school record on Saturday by one stroke with a 278, the rainy conditions got the best of UK in the final round. The Wildcats posted a 13-over-par 301 over the final 18 holes. Countered by the first two days of solid golf, Kentucky ended up at 2-under par for the weekend.

“It was a tough day on the course for us today but we are taking a lot of positives with us from this tournament,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “We put ourselves in a great position after two days in a very competitive field; we just didn’t execute as well today. I am proud of this team and know that we will come back stronger from this.

“These are the moments we play for, to be in contention, to feel what it’s like to go into the last day with the lead. We will learn from this and come back hungrier next week in Louisville.”
 
A steady rain Sunday made for a difficult round for the entire 18-team field, which included seven teams ranked in Golfweek’s top-25 rankings. Just one team, Ohio State, posted red numbers in the final round. No. 19 Michigan State, the weekend’s winner, grinded its way to a 1-over-par final round to win the tournament at 12-under par, one shot clear of No. 16 Alabama.
 
The Spartans’ Valery Plata won the individual title at 11-under par.
 
Sophomore Casey Ott was Kentucky’s top finisher this weekend. She entered the day in a tie for fourth place, and though she couldn’t match her sensational round Saturday – a career-low 66 – she still held on to a tie for ninth place for her fifth top-10 finish in her last eight college tournaments.
 
Despite a 75 in the final round, the Arkansas native’s 3-under-par 213 still qualified as a career best, beating her previous low of 216 set two weeks ago at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational.
 
Freshman sensation Jensen Castle posted her third top-20 finish in just her third collegiate tournament by tying for 13th. She was the only Wildcat to fire an even-par round in the final round.
 
With Castle’s 72 in the finale, the highest-rated signee in UK women’s golf history finished at 2-under par. All three of her rounds this weekend were even or better. Six of her first eight collegiate rounds are par or better.
 
Rikke Svejgård Nielsen was even through the first nine holes but the tougher back nine prevented the junior from notching her seventh top-20 finish in just 13 starts. She tied for 27th at 1-over par.
 
Senior Sarah Shipley came into Sunday among the field’s leader in birdies. However, she was only able to roll in one in the final round for a 75. The Hastings, Michigan, native finished at 5-over par for the tournament and in a tie for 46th.
 
Freshman Marissa Wenzler tied for 68th with a score of 8-over par after a 78 on Sunday.
 
Kentucky will wrap up its fall season next weekend just down the expressway from Lexington in Simpsonville, Kentucky. The Wildcats will compete in the Louisville’s Cardinal Cup at the U of L Golf Club.
 
It’s been a successful fall already with the impressive win at the Minnesota Invitational and the dominating victory at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, UK’s home tournament. The two wins marked the first back-to-back championships since consecutive wins in 1996 and 1997 and marked the first multi-win season since 1997-98.
 
The two wins is already tied for the third most in school history.
 
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.