Wildcats Show Improvement at Florida Gators Invitational
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Three Kentucky women’s golfers shot 1-over par or lower during the second round of the Florida Gators Invitational Presented by VyStar on Monday, as the Wildcats made noticeable improvement from their opening round. UK was 16 shots better as a team and carded the fifth-lowest round of the day in the 14-team field.
Freshman Laney Frye continues to lead the way at 2-over par overall. She remained in a tie for 12th overall on the individual leaderboard after an even-par 70 on Monday and is in search of her second-career top-10 individual finish. Sophomores Jensen Castle and Marissa Wenzler both notched rounds of 71.
Ole Miss emerged as the day two leader at 12-over par. Maryland and UCF are tied for second at 13-over. Kentucky, in 11th place, is 30-over par and 12 shots off the pace of Florida and Alabama for a top-five result.
Play resumes Tuesday at 8:45 a.m. at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Florida. Live scoring is available throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com.
“We did a much better job of eliminating the bigger numbers today and that helped us quite a bit,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “We still have work to do to get to where we want to go, but we put ourselves in better positions on and around the greens and that was good to see.”
Frye got off to a fast start with a birdie on her opening hole at the par-3 11th. She suffered a bogey at the 13th and shot par for the next seven holes. The Lexington, Kentucky, native then carded her second birdie of the day at the par-5 third. She’s now earned a red number on that hole during back-to-back rounds.
Frye gave the shot back at the sixth but earned a birdie at the par-4 ninth, a hole she bogeyed on day one. Frye’s round of 70 is her team-leading fifth round of par or better this season.
“I’m proud of Laney,” Borst said. “She played steady all day and is finding her groove on the course. It’s truly just a matter of time before she gets comfortable going further under par.”
Castle shot up the leaderboard into a tie for 33rd with her 71. The West Columbia, South Carolina, native improved 14 spots behind a round that featured a pair of birdies. She is at 7-over par overall.
Wenzler matched Frye with a team-high three birdies during her round. Through 36 holes, she is tied for 59th overall at 12-over par. Wenzler carded birdies at the third, sixth and 12th holes.
Sophomore María Villanueva Aperribay is tied for 41st on the individual leaderboard following a round of 75 on Monday and a 36-hole total of 9-over par. She concluded her day with some momentum with an even-par scorecard over her final eight holes.
Senior Rikke Svejgård Nielsen is tied for 71st at 17-over par after she matched Villanueva’s 75 in the second round.
Outside of Frye, who maintained her position, each Wildcat improved their standing on the individual leaderboard during the second day of action.
The Florida Gators Invitational is nearly 50 years old, but this is Kentucky’s first appearance in the event since 2012. The Mark Bostick Golf Course, a Donald Ross design, is playing at 6,002 yards and a par of 70.
Of the 14 teams in this week’s field, eight are from the Southeastern Conference. Eight teams are ranked in the Golfstat top 25.
This is the first of four tournaments for the Wildcats over the next seven weeks.
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.
