The 58th ranked Kentucky Wildcats posted a first-round score of 307 on a long, cold day to secure them in fourth place in the UK Bluegrass Invitational at the University Club.
UK is only two strokes from being tied with tournament leading Western Carolina in the 17-team field, while the University of Central Florida and the University of Toledo both hold the second spot with a 306. Miami (Ohio) rounds out the top five after Kentucky with a 310. The top five teams after the first round are separated by a very slim margin, setting up what should be exciting second and third rounds.
?It was a tough day for everyone out there today,? said coach Brian Craig. ?It was by far the worst conditions we have played in all season and all the guys dug deep to put us in serious contention to win this tournament if we come out and continue to improve tomorrow.?
Junior Andy Winings (Brownsburg, Ind.) leads the Cats and is tied for first overall after he collected three birdies and fired a team-best 71 in the first round. The one-under-par 71 tied Western Kentucky?s Brent Long for the two best scores of the day.
Sophomore Alex Volpenhein (Fort Mitchell, Ky.) also recorded three birdies on the day to place him tied for 13th, giving him a first-day total of 76. Junior Ben Fuqua (Danville, Ky.) fought his swing all day to card a 79 in the first round to place him in a tie for 33rd. Senior Cale Barr (Versailles, Ky.) wrapped up the day with a 10-over-par 81 while senior Brad Doster (Winter Park, Fla.) posted a 82 for a tie for 62nd to round out scoring for Kentucky on Sunday afternoon.
Originally planned to play 36 holes today and 18 on Monday, officials decided to cut the second round short and will finish the remaining few holes of the second round on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET before tackling the third round. Complete tournament results from today can be found on ukathletics.com and golfstat.com.
AGATE
Team:
Western Carolina 305, Central Florida 306, Toledo 306, Kentucky 307, Miami 310, Murray State 311, Eastern Kentucky 311, Western Kentucky 312, Missouri 315, Samford 316, Ball State 320, Cincinnati 319, Dayton 322, Austin Peay 326, Akron 328, Ohio 329, Morehead State 348
Players:
Andy Winings 71
Alex Volpenhein 76
Ben Fuqua 79
Cale Barr 81
Brad Doster 82
