Newly Ranked UK Women’s Golf Closes Fall Season at Cardinal Cup
SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s golf team will close what’s already been one of the most successful fall seasons in school history this weekend at the Cardinal Cup.
Already winners of two championships and coming off an eye-opening performance against some of the nation’s best teams last week at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, the newly ranked Wildcats will compete Friday through Sunday just an hour down the expressway at the University of Louisville Golf Club in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
Of the 17 teams in the field, UK enters the weekend with the highest ranking among them. The Wildcats are rated No. 20 in the first Golfstat rankings and No. 24 in Golfweek’s top 25.
Play begins Friday as early as 10 a.m. with the first of three 18-hole rounds over the next three days. The tournament concludes Sunday.
Fans are encouraged to attend with free admission and ideal weather conditions in the forecast for the weekend.
After a promising start to the 2019-20 season, UK is looking for its third championship of the fall, which would tie for the second most in school history. Only the 1990-91 team, with four titles, won more in a competition year.
Although the Wildcats fell short of winning three straight tournaments for the first time in school history last weekend, they went toe-to-toe with one of the best fields in golf at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational. With a two-round score of 15-under par, including a 10-under-278 in the second round – one stroke from tying the school record – Kentucky took a one-stroke lead into the final round against a field that included seven teams in Golfweek’s top-25 rankings.
Rainy conditions and a crowded leaderboard derailed UK in the final round, but the Wildcats head into the final competition of the fall with a lot of confidence.
“I think it’s good that we have such a quick turnaround this week and that we are getting right back to competing on Friday,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “This team continues to stay dialed in and we have had a couple productive days of practice.”
“We are looking forward to getting back after it on Friday and I think this course will play to our team’s strengths as it is similar to our home course at the University Club of Kentucky.”
The same quintet of freshman Jensen Castle, junior Rikke Svejgård Nielsen, senior Sarah Shipley, sophomore Casey Ott and freshman Marissa Wenzler will compete for the third straight tournament. Junior Sarah Fite will join those five in Simpsonville for individual competition.
Each Wildcat has had moments of brilliance this season, maybe none more so than Castle. The highest-rated signee in program history finished in the top 20 in all three of her first collegiate appearances after tying for 13th with a score of 2-under par at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
Castle heads to the Cardinal Cup with a team-best 71.1 stroke average and six of her eight first rounds at even par or better.
Svejgård Nielsen is just behind Castle in stroke average at 72.1. Despite tying for 27th in Chapel Hill, North Carolina – a respectable finish in a field that strong – the junior has finished in the top 20 in six of her 12 collegiate tournaments.
Shipley was a birdie machine through the first two rounds at the Tar Heel Invitational with 11 of them through 36 holes. A final-round 79 knocked her back to a tie for 46th to close the weekend, but she’s sporting a career-low 72.6 stroke average thus far.
After missing the Minnesota Invitational, Ott has arguably been Kentucky’s best golfer this season. She’s finished in the top 10 in all three appearances and five of her last eight college tournaments after tying for ninth place in Chapel Hill. Ott’s 66 in the second round is tied for the seventh-best round in school history.
Wenzler has shown promise as a freshman. Despite tying for 68th last weekend, she’s already carded two rounds of par or better while tying for 13th at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational and tying for 25th at the Minnesota Invitational, her first career appearance.
Fite is competing as an individual for the third time this season. She’s shown considerable improvement in her junior year, including a second-round 70 that fueled her to a second career top-10 showing (tied for seventh) at the Minnesota Invitational.
Kentucky has appeared in the Cardinal Cup in five of the previous 15 years, including recent trips in 2016 and 2017. The Wildcats placed third in 2016.
The U of L Golf Club, a Spencer Holt-designed layout in play, is a par 72 that will play at 6,261 yards.
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.
