Oct. 20, 2008

Through the first three tournaments of the 2008-09 season, seniors Ben Fuqua (Danville, Ky.) and Andy Winings (Brownsburg, Ind.) rank among the top-10 golfers in the Southeastern Conference, according to the latest conference rankings released by the league office on Monday.

Fuqua, the SEC Golfer of the Month for September, checks in third place overall in the SEC, with Winings ranking eighth overall. The third-place ranking in the SEC is the highest ever ranking for Fuqua.

Kicking off the season at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, co-hosted by Indiana University and Kentucky, Fuqua shot a three-round total of 222, good for a tie for ninth place. Following his top-10 performance in the Wildcats season opener, Fuqua set a new career record in the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate shooting back-to-back 65s in the final two rounds, en route to setting a new school record for lowest three rounds in a tournament, 198, good enough to win the Mason Rudolph. In the third tournament of the fall, Fuqua shot the lowest round of any Wildcat during the third round of the Prestige at PGA West, firing a 68. After the first three tournaments of the fall 2008-09 season, Fuqua leads the team with a 72.33 stroke average.

Winings has been a consistent top-performer since he arrived on campus in 2005, starting in every tournament of his collegiate career. He began this season tying for second place at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate and in nine rounds of golf in the 2008-09 season Winings has already shot four rounds at or under par. Twice this season, Winings has turned in a scorecard with his season low of 69, including the second round at Wolf Run and the first round of the Mason Rudolph. Winings sports the second best season stroke average on the team, behind Fuqua, with a 72.66.

The Wildcats return to action this Oct. 26-28 when they travel to Florida for the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational. Follow all the men’s golf team action on ukathletics.com.