Goff, Parks Lead Improved Play During Round Two at LSU Invite
BATON ROUGE, La. – Sophomores Alex Goff and Cooper Parks led the way for the Kentucky men’s golf team who produced an improved round during the second day of play at the LSU Invitational on Saturday. Goff turned in his sixth under-par round of the season, while Parks shaved off 15 strokes from his opening round of play. UK is tied for ninth as the field remains bunched with 10 strokes separating the Cats from a top-three finish.
Goff posted a 1-under par 71 during Saturday’s second round to move into a tie for 22nd. He’s in search of his seventh career top-20 finish and the third of the season. Parks played even par, including 2-under over his final nine holes to again build momentum heading into the final round.
“I am super proud of Alex and Cooper with how they bounced back today,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “Overall, I thought we played solid as a team with the exception of the number 15. It ate our lunch today, and now we need to get a little redemption tomorrow.”
Florida is the clubhouse leader through 36 holes at 3-over par. Illinois is second at 6-over, while Vanderbilt and Arkansas State are tied for third at 11-over par. UK is 21-over through two rounds, but 10 shots back of a top-three finish.
Kentucky once again began the day on the back nine, which proved to be the more difficult test for the second day in a row for the field. Three of UK’s five starters committed a double-bogey on the par-four 15th.
Goff got off to a hot start with birdies on three of his first five holes, before suffering a double-bogey at the 15th. A back-and-forth battle between Goff and the course ensued with a bogey at 16, a birdie at 17 and a double-bogey at the 18th. He finished the back nine at 1-over par before making his turn. From there, he played flawlessly, and picked up birdies at the par-four first and the par-five sixth to get to 1-under for the round.
Parks, who shot an opening round 87, easily had the most impressive round of the day with a bounce-back 72 during the second round. He got off to a good start with a birdie at the 12th before suffering the same fate as Goff with a double-bogey at the 15th. That would be his only miscue of the afternoon, however, as he played beautiful golf on the final nine holes with no bogeys and a birdie at the par-five third. It marked the seventh par-or-better round of Parks’ career and the third of the season. He is tied for 81st overall.
Graduate student Jacob Cook is tied for 33rd following a round of 75 on Saturday. He picked up some momentum heading into the final day with birdies on two of his final four holes to aid UK’s cause and help move the squad into a tie for ninth.
Junior Zach Norris matched Cook’s 75. Norris bettered his score by six strokes from round one to round two. He is tied for 70th overall entering Sunday’s final round.
Graduate student Reid Bedell shot a 77 on day two and is tied for 40th overall.
Senior Allen Hamilton, playing as an individual, fired an 81 and is tied for 81st overall.
For the second straight day, every Wildcat bettered their score over their final nine holes. The five starters all shot 1-over par or better between the No. 1 and No. 9 holes.
Teams resume play beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday for the final round. Live scoring is available via golfstat.com.
The University Club was designed and opened in 1998 by Jim Lipe. It was later redesigned by former LSU All-American and PGA winner David Toms. The redesign took advantage of the natural topography with the wetlands surrounding the course in mind. It plays at 7,700 yards at a par score of 72.
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