PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. ? The Kentucky men?s golf team shot a day three 293 at the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships and picked up its sixth top-10 finish of the school year, Tuesday afternoon. No. 27 UK tied with the University of North Florida for eighth place overall and South Carolina claimed the tournament title with an astounding 861 three day total.

?All-in-all I think this was a very respectable performance,? Coach Brian Craig said. ?We finished ahead of three teams who were ranked in the top-10 before the tournament and I?m proud of how we played.?

The Wildcats finished ahead of No. 3 Georgia (296), No. 8 Augusta State (297) and No. 10 North Carolina (296).

John Holmes turned in Kentucky?s best performance of the tournament with a 54-hole 219 total. After two sub-par rounds, Holmes turned in a 2-under-par 70 in the third round to finished tied for 10th place with South Carolina?s Alex Hamilton. Junior Mark Blakefield started the day tied for first place, but could not find his stroke in the final round, as he shot a third round 81 and finished tied for 23rd. Sophomore Matt Kohn fired a 1-under-par 71 third round and finished with a 229 total

?I?m particularly proud of Mark Blakefield,? Craig said. ?He proved he could play at the top level. He handled himself with a lot of class today in the midst of a difficult round. I?m real proud of him.?

Kentucky?s next outing is at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Intercollegiate in Puerto Rico, March 7-9.

Kentucky Scores

T10 ? John Holmes ? 219 T23 ? Mark Blakefield ? 223 T45 ? Matt Kohn ? 229 T67 ? Brandon Waldrop ? 235 71 ? Matt Wells ? 237