Parks Surges Behind 2-Under Round, Cats Ascend Leaderboard
STATESBORO, Ga. – Sophomore Cooper Parks surged into the top 15 on the individual leaderboard behind a 2-under par 70 during the second round of the Schenkel Invitational on Saturday. Parks led overall improved play by the Wildcats as the squad moved into a tie for 10th through 36 holes. Kentucky remains 10 shots back of a top-five finish which would mark the sixth straight in the event.
“We trended in the right direction today,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “We almost played a really good round. Tomorrow is going to be an exceptional day for the Cats.”
The Wildcats shaved 10 strokes off their day one score and turned in the sixth-best scorecard in the field during Saturday’s round. Parks generated the top round, but sophomore Alex Goff and graduate student Reid Bedell bounced back with even-par scores to aid UK’s cause.
No. 21 NC State (-25) remains the leader and is 14 shots better than second-place Georgia Southern. Furman at 9-under par is two shots behind the host Eagles. Florida Gulf Coast (-4) and Middle Tennessee State (+6) round out the top five. UK is tied with Memphis at 16-over par through two rounds for 10th.
Action concludes Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available via golfstat.com.
Parks who concluded his round in a tie for 15th overall, got off to another fast start with three birdies over his opening seven holes. Three bogeys over the next six holes moved him back to even-par, but then he finished with a flurry. The Campbellsville, Kentucky, native concluded his round with even-even-birdie-birdie-even to card a 2-under score. Parks’ five birdies during the round were a team high and he’s the first starter to earn an under-par round this week. Parks’ 70 is the fourth par-or-better score of the season for the second-year player and it is the second-lowest score of his career.
Goff and Bedell continued to mirror each other’s scorecards with rounds of even-par 72 on Saturday. The duo both shot opening rounds of 78. They are tied for 46th overall.
Goff was even-par over his opening nine holes with a pair of birdies to combat two bogeys. A bogey at the par-four fifth yielded another stroke back, but he finished strong with a birdie at the par-five seventh. He has a team-high-tying seven par-or-better rounds on the season.
Bedell went bogey-par-birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie before settling down with even pars over his final three holes prior to the turn. Kentucky began the round on the back nine and when Bedell opened his final nine holes he picked up back-to-back birdies to get to 1-under. He then suffered consecutive bogeys before four straight pars evened things out. A birdie on his final hole of the day brought him to even par.
Graduate student Jacob Cook is tied for 43rd after shooting a 77 on Saturday. Cook overcame a tough round with birdies on two of his final four holes to end with some momentum.
Junior Zach Norris is 79th overall following a 78 during round two.
Senior Allen Hamilton continued to shine as an individual with an even-par 72. He is tied for 13th on the individual leaderboard at 2-under par for the tournament. Hamilton produced the first eagle of the week for the Wildcats at the par-four 16th.
Freshmen Hugo Archer and Campbell Kremer fired rounds of 75. Kremer is tied for 67th and Archer is tied for 71st through two rounds.
Forest Heights is recognized as one of the finest in the Southeast. The course measures out to 6,962 yards from the championship tees. Although the tee shots are relatively forgiving, the players face their biggest challenges when they reach the undulating greens. The greens feature subtle breaks that make it difficult to read and making scoring low a tough task.
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