Kentucky Women's Golf Adds Jordan Chael to 2015-16 Roster
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s golf team has added an immediate impact player in Jordan Chael for the 2015-16 season, head coach Golda Johansson Borst announced on Tuesday. Chael, a transfer from Nebraska who led the Cornhuskers in stroke average during the 2014-15 season, will be eligible immediately and compete for the Wildcats in the fall as a junior.
“I’m very excited to announce that we will be adding Jordan to the Big Blue Nation this fall,” Borst said. “I know she will have an immediate impact on our team both in the classroom and on the golf course. We had an exciting end to our season and I believe she will add to our momentum going into the fall.”
Chael will join Kentucky in 2015-16 with the ability to make an instant splash on a team that’s made a program-record five straight NCAA regional appearances. Chael led Nebraska throughout her sophomore season in Lincoln, Neb., posting a 75.30 stroke average.
“I chose Kentucky because of the commitment to women’s golf here,” Chael said. “I knew early on that, as a Wildcat, I would be pushed in many different ways to become the best golfer and person I can be. From the coaching staff to the facilities to the girls, it’s a program that I cannot wait to be a part of.”
With a 76.48 career scoring average that ranks second all-time in the Nebraska record books, Chael collected four career top-10 finishes in her two-year career as a Cornhusker, including three last season. A native of Overland Park, Kan., Chael notched the best finish of her career by taking third at the Chip-N Club Invitational.
Chael tied for ninth at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate in October and finished the fall season with a 75.60 stroke average. She picked right back up in the spring with a career-best 69 in the first round of the Westbrook Invitational in late February. She added rounds of 72 and 76 for a career-best 217, good enough for a tie for 16th place in a loaded field in Peoria, Ariz.
As a freshman at Nebraska, Chael claimed a top-10 finish at the 2013 Chip-N Club Invitational and posted the fourth-best single-season stroke average for a freshman in school history.
Prior to her collegiate career, Chael won the Kansas Class 5A individual state championship in October 2012 while guiding St. Thomas Aquinas to the state team title, one of three team championships Aquinas won with Chael leading the team. Chael placed in the top five in her previous three state championship appearances. During her final three seasons at Aquinas, Chael won or tied for first in 21 of 27 tournaments.
A four-time Kansas City Star All-Metro selection, Chael was a three-time Class 5A Regional champion at the high-school level. She was also the Missouri Women’s Golf Association State Junior champion in 2012.
Chael was named Academic All-Big Ten last season and has appeared on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in three different semesters.
The junior transfer will join a UK women’s golf team that is coming off one of the best seasons in school history. The Wildcats posted their best postseason finish in the Borst era and finished with the second-best stroke average in program annals. UK just missed out on the program’s first NCAA Championships berth since 1992.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow @UKWomensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
