Aug. 10, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky men’s golf team will face an elaborate 2010-11 schedule, featuring 10 quality tournaments at some of the best championship courses across the south, head coach Brian Craig announced Tuesday.
Craig, who is entering his 10th season as the Wildcats head man, and the Wildcats will travel to seven different states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. UK will face several top-notch opponents on championship-style courses, including three new tournaments to the Wildcats: Philadelphia Big Five Invitational, UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate and the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate.
“With this schedule, our two primary goals are met,” said Craig, the 2005 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. “First, we are playing against top-notch competition. Secondly, we will play a variety of championship courses throughout the season. Having met both of those objectives will help prepare us for the postseason, which our entire season will be geared around. I am looking forward to the challenge of coaching this team and having a great year.”
The schedule will be separated into a fall and spring schedule, with Kentucky playing five events in each portion. The fall schedule, which will begin after the Wildcats have a practice tournament in early Septemeber, starts with the Wolf Run Intercollegiate, marking the fifth consecutive season UK has began its fall schedule at Wolf Run. The Wildcats will co-host the event with Indiana on Sept. 11-12 at Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville, Ind.
Kentucky also will co-host the Gary Koch Invitational (Oct. 2-3) at Old Memorial Golf Club in Tampa, Fla., with Auburn for the second consecutive season. The Gary Koch event is the second event in the 2010 fall schedule, which also includes appearances in the Philadelphia Big Five Invitational (Oct. 9-10), UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate (Oct. 23-24) and the Hummingbird Intercollegiate (Nov. 1-2) – where UK posted its best finish of the year, finishing tied for second.
UK’s 2011 spring schedule is highlighted by the Wildcats’ home event, the UK Bluegrass Invitational, wrapping up the spring schedule for the third consecutive year. The event is played April 9-10 at the University Club of Kentucky Big Blue Course, Kentucky’s home course.
The spring portion begins with the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate (Feb. 21-22) followed by the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate (March 7-8), a new tournament for Kentucky. UK ends the spring season in familiar territory, playing in the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational (March 18-20) and the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate (March 27-29). Kentucky has played in the Schenkel tournament for the past five seasons while the Big Blue has been represented in the Hootie at Bulls Bay for the past six seasons.
Kentucky will make the annual trip to St. Simons Island, Ga., for the Southeastern Conference Championship on April 15-17. The Wildcats have been successful at the SEC Championships under Craig, posting four top-six finishes under Craig’s tenure. Kentucky won its first ever SEC Championship in 2005 when Craig was named the SEC Coach of the Year and Eaton Golf Pride Midwest Coach of the Year.
The NCAA Regional Championship is May 19-21 and the NCAA Championship is at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla., May 31 – June 5.
