April 17, 2011
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky men’s golf sophomore Chase Parker carded the lowest round of the tournament for the Wildcats with a 1-under-par 69 in the final round, moving up the leaderboard and into a tie for 12th at the Southeastern Conference Championships at Sea Island Golf Club on Sunday. As a team, Kentucky finished in ninth at 45-over-par 885.
“We played our hearts out at the SEC Championship as well as this entire spring season,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “Unfortunately, it was not quite good enough to get us to postseason play. The good news is we are really young and bring back a strong nucleus of returning players for next year. I can’t wait for Chase Parker, Stephen Powers and Cody Martin to lead this team back to prominence starting next fall.”
Parker, who entered the final round tied for 26th, saved his best day at the tournament for last, scoring four birdies for a 1-under-par 69. The native of Augusta, Ga., started the day with a par and two brides to sit a 2-under-par through three holes. After two bogeys put the sophomore at even-par, Parker birdied two of the next three holes to get back to 2-under-par before ending the day with a bogey. Parker finished the tournament at 5-over-par 215 for his second consecutive top-22 showing at the SEC Championships.
Freshman Stephen Powers also earned a top-20 finish, shooting a 5-over-par 75 in the final round to end the tournament tied for 19th. Powers had three birdies in the final round and started the day off with back-to-back birdies to sit at 2-under-par. The native of Naperville, Ill., only recorded one more birdie in the final 16 holes. The top-20 finish is second consecutive for the freshman, who was tied for second last weekend at the UK Bluegrass Invitational.
Senior Brian Belden and freshman Cody Martin ended the event in the top 50 with Belden tied for 39th and Martin tied for 49th. Belden had his best round of the day Sunday with a 3-over-par 73 to finish the tournament at 14-over-par 224, while Martin shot an 8-over-par 78 in the final round for a 54-hole total of 19-over-par 229.
Junior Mads Kristensen also had his best outing of the tournament Sunday with an 8-over-par 78 to end the tournament tied for 56th at 27-over-par.
Kentucky shot a 15-over-par 295 in the final round for a ninth-place finish at 45-over-par 885. No. 6 Florida took home the SEC Championship at 8-over-par 848, while UF’s Andres Echavarria won the individual title in a one-hole playoff over LSU’s John Peterson at 1-under-par for the tournament.
Kentucky concludes the 2010-11 season with four top-three finishes as a team, increasing the total number of top-three finishes under Craig to 35. Individually, UK players earned 14 top-20 finishes during the year, including Belden who had a team-high five top-20 finishes.
For more information on the Kentucky men’s golf team, visit UKathletics.com or follow “UKmensgolf” on Twitter.
9. Kentucky (+45) 293-297-295-885
T12. Chase Parker (+5) 72-74-69-215
T19. Stephen Powers (+7) 71-71-75-217
T39. Brian Belden (+14) 74-77-73-224
T49. Cody Martin (+19) 76-75-78-229
T56. Mads Kristensen (+27) 80-79-78-237
