May 17, 2014
RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Kentucky men’s golf team punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship after placing fourth in the NCAA Raleigh Regional at the Lonnie Poole Golf Club with a team score of 4-over par, 856. The 2014 NCAA Championship will be held in Hutchinson, Kan., at the Prairie Dunes Country Club from May 23-28.
The Wildcats will be making their eighth appearance in the NCAA Championship in program history and fifth under head coach Brian Craig. It marks the first since 2006 after Kentucky went to four straight NCAA Championships from 2003-06.
“I am so happy for our seniors,” Craig said. “Stephen (Powers), Cody (Martin) and Ben (Stow) deserved this and I love it for them. Stephen played terrific golf and led the way. However, it was a total team effort. Everybody played a significant role and that is very satisfying. We have a short turnaround and then it is off to Kansas to see if we can finish this season off on a memorable note.”
UK posted a final round score of 12-over par, 296. Joining Kentucky in Hutchinson from the Raleigh Regional is No. 5 Georgia Tech, who won the regional at 27-under par, 825, No. 8 Washington (-10), No. 20 Texas A&M (-3) and No. 17 Florida State (+8). Washington’s Jonathan Sanders was the individual champion after finishing 10-under par, 203.
The Southeastern Conference will be well-represented in Hutchinson, as 10 of the 30 qualifying teams are from the SEC. No. 1 Alabama, No. 6 Georgia, No. 14 LSU, No. 19 Vanderbilt, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 22 South Carolina, No. 23 Auburn, No. 24 Arkansas and Missouri join Kentucky in the 30-team field.
Rounding out the rest of the team standings in Raleigh were Texas Tech (+12), Wake Forest (+17), Mercer (+18), Minnesota (+20), Memphis (+21), South Alabama (+26), Rice (+34) and Bethune-Cookman (+45).
Recording his second top-five finish this season, senior Stephen Powers placed fifth at 5-under par, 208 (67-68-73). Powers carded a final round score of 2-over par, 73. The Naperville, Ill., native registered his team-leading sixth top-10 finish this season. He has placed in the top 20 in every tournament except two during his senior campaign.
Making the biggest move on Saturday was senior Cody Martin who posted the only under par round for Kentucky. Martin shot 1-under par, 70, in the final round to climb into a tie for 25th at 3-over par, 216 (73-73-70). He collected five birdies on the day to give him 12 for the tournament.
Finishing a stroke behind Martin was fellow senior Ben Stow at 4-over par, 217 (70-71-76), and tied for 29th. Stow turned in a final round of 5-over par, 76. He and Martin tied for the team-lead in birdies during the tournament with 12.
Junior Will Bishop tied for 39th with a score of 7-over par, 220 (71-70-79). Bishop turned in a scorecard of 8-over par, 79, on the final day of competition. Fellow junior David Snyder finished tied for 57th at 11-over par, 220 (77-70-77). Snyder shot 6-over par, 77, in the final round.
Up Next:
The finals will be held May 23-28 in Hutchinson, Kan., at Prairie Dunes Country Club. Wichita State is the host institution for the 2014 NCAA Championship. For more information on the University of Kentucky men’s golf team please visit UKathletics.com and follow on Twitter @UKmensgolf.
Lonnie Poole Golf Club
Raleigh, N.C. – May 15-17
Par: 71 (35-36)
Yardage: 7,213 (3,512-3,701)
Live Scoring: Stats
Final Results:
4. Kentucky: 281-279-296=856 (+4)
5. Stephen Powers: 67-68-73=208 (-5)
T25. Cody Martin: 73-73-70=216 (+3)
T29. Ben Stow: 70-71-76=217 (+4)
T39. Will Bishop: 71-70-79=220 (+7)
T57. David Snyder: 77-70-77=224 (+11)
