Feb. 22, 2009
Returning to Florida for the second straight week, the Kentucky men’s golf team returns to action this week at the Rio Pinar Invitational in Orlando, Fla. The Wildcats will join 20 squads for the two-day tournament hosted by the University of Central Florida at the 7,003-yard par-72 Rio Pinar Country Club.
The No. 59 Wildcats will join 10 squads ranked in the top-75 nationally according to the Golfstat.com in NCAA Head-to-Head Standings: UCF (21), Ole Miss (26), Baylor (36), Louisville (37), Augusta State (41), VCU (48), Ohio State (51), Vanderbilt (62) and Texas-Arlington (68).
Akron, Connecticut, East Carolina, Iowa State, Memphis, Mercer, UNC-Greensboro, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, USF and Wichita State will also be in action at the event. Along with 10 top-ranked squads the tournament will also feature 13 players ranked in the top-100 collegiate golfers in the nation.
Teams will play 36 holes Monday at the Rio Pinar Country Club and then conclude the tournament with one round Tuesday. Tournament play will begin at 7:45 a.m. (ET) Monday and 8:30 a.m. (ET) Tuesday.
Kentucky began their spring campaign last week, posting a second-place finish at the Jacksonville University Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Senior Andy Winings (Brownsburg, Ind.) finished second at the 10-team tournament. Winings posted a 217, including a hole-in-one on the 170-yard par three during the first round.
Winings will be one of six Wildcats in action at Rio Pinar. He will be joined in the lineup by senior Ben Fuqua (Versailles, Ky.), junior Jordan Blann (Bowling Green, Ky.), sophomore James Kania (Haverford, Penn.) and freshman Mads Kristensen (Denmark). Head coach Brian Craig will also have junior Derek Oldham (Lexington, Ky.) compete as an individual at the tournament.
Kentucky finished in 10th place during last year’s Rio Pinar Invitational. Then-senior Brad Doster (Winter Park, Fla.) led the Wildcats with a team-best 70 on the final day of the tournament. UK tallied a three-round total of 875 (293-286-296) for the event on the 7,003-yard par-72 Rio Pinar Country Club. Kentucky finished with an 846 (-18).
