March 20, 2009

STATESBORO, Ga. – Led by senior co-captain Andy Winings’ one-under-par first round, the Kentucky men’s golf team is in 14th place after the opening 18 holes of the 30th annual Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational.

Winings, a Brownsburg, Ind., native, took full advantage of perfect weather conditions on the first day of spring, shooting a 71, including five birdies, three of which came on the long back nine holes at the Forest Heights Country Club. Winings is currently tied for the eighth spot.

Sophomore James Kania opened play today red-hot, firing a score of two-under par through the front nine before finishing tied for 36th with a final score of 74.

Senior Ben Fuqua fashioned a three-over par in the opening round and is tied for 45th, and junior Jordan Blann is tied for 67th with a five-over-par 77.

Fresh off his first collegiate top-10 performance in last week’s General Jim Hackler Championship, Mads Kristensen rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats with a seven-over-par 79.

Tennessee currently leads the 18-team field with a one-under-par total. Tennessee’s Robin Wingardh, Auburn’s Glenn Northcutt and LSU’s Sang Yi are all tied for the individual lead with an opening score of three-under par. Five Southeastern Conference teams are represented in the top 10.

Kentucky returns to the course in its fourth appearance in the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational tomorrow at 9 a.m. EDT with a shotgun start. Live scoring can be followed on golfstat.com and a full recap of the day’s action will be posted on UKathletics.com following the conclusion of play.

14 Kentucky +9 F 297 297 T8 Andy Winings -1 F 71 71 T36 James Kania +2 F 74 74 T45 Ben Fuqua +3 F 75 75 T66 Jordan Blann +5 F 77 77 T85 Mads Kristensen +7 F 79