Nov. 2, 2009
SAPPHIRE, N.C. — Behind impressive performances from seniors Jordan Blann and Ben Fuqua, who each carded a 3-under-par score of 68, the Kentucky men’s golf team is in first place after the first round of the Hummingbird Intercollegiate on Monday.
Kentucky shot a season-low score of 279 in the first round. UK sits at 5-under-par for the tournament, three strokes better than the second-place team, Furman University. The 36-hole tournament will conclude Tuesday with the final 18 holes of golf.
The two Kentucky seniors in the rotation, Blann and Fuqua, led the way for the Wildcats on Monday, sitting tied for second and only one stroke off the lead heading into the final round. The 3-under-par 68 scored by each player in the first round is tied for the lowest 18-hole score for a Wildcat this season. Fuqua posted a 68 at the Gary Koch Intercollegiate earlier this fall.
Blann posted three birdies and an eagle on the day. The native of Bowling Green, Ky., made the turn at 1-under-par but got hot on the final nine holes, carding three birdies in the first five holes on the back nine. Blann’s eagle came on the par-5 sixth hole. The senior has finished either first or second in the Kentucky rotation in all but one tournament this season.
Fuqua, who has Kentucky’s best individual finish of the year when he tied for fifth at the Firestone Invitational, was brilliant in the first round on Monday. The senior from Danville, Ky., scored six birdies in the first round, including five consecutive birdies on the back nine. The impressive mark of 68 is the lowest first-round score of the year for the senior.
Sophomore Mads Kristensen is tied for 17th after carding six birdies in the first round to finish at even par. The native of Denmark notched five birdies on the back nine, including two of the last three holes.
Freshman Chase Parker and junior Brian Belden wrap up the scoring for the Wildcat rotation. Parker, playing in his fourth event for Kentucky this season, finished the first round with a 1-over-par 72 in a tie for 25th. The native of Augusta, Ga., posted four birdies on the day, including two of the first three holes. Parker went into the tournament with the second-lowest season-stroke average on the team with a 75.56 mark. Belden ended the first round with three birdies. The native of Emmaus, Pa., is 4-over-par for the tournament.
Senior Derek Oldham, playing as an individual in the tournament also shot a 4-over-par in the first round.
The 36-hole event will resume on Tuesday with the final 18-holes of golf at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley.
