UK Women’s Golf Matches Best Finish of the Season at the Bryan

BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. – With sophomore Grace Rose finishing in a career-best 15th place and all five Wildcats posting top-50 finishes, the Kentucky women’s golf team completed its three-day run at the Bryan National Collegiate in a tie for fifth.

The Champions Course at Bryan Park significantly toughened up in the final round. All 15 teams shot 300 or higher on Sunday and not a single player in the field shot even par or better. Even so, the Wildcats were able to hang on to fifth place in Sunday’s conclusion and match their best finish of the season, previously done at the UCF Challenge in February. 

Rose rebounded from a rocky last tournament with one of the best weekends of her career, firing a 54-hole total of 226. That was good enough for a 15th-place finish, topping her previous best of 19th.

Virginia won its second straight Bryan championship with a score of 24-over par, while South Carolina’s Sarah Schmelzel won the individual title at 3-over, seven shots in front of Rose.

This 19th annual Bryan National Collegiate featured 10 teams in Golfstat’s top 50. UK finished ahead of five of the teams, which should improve Kentucky’s ranking heading into the all-important postseason.

Rose went wire to wire in leading the Wildcats this weekend. After back-to-back 74s in the first and second rounds, she managed a 78 on the final day. Her total of 226 is her third-best 54-total of the season. 

Like the rest of the field, the third round proved to be difficult for Rose, though she still managed to post her second top-20 finish of the season Sunday with a birdie and 11 pars.

Junior Jordan Chael was actually Kentucky’s best golfer in the final round and fired one of the best scores in the field with a 75. With three birdies in the tournament’s conclusion, Chael moved up 15 spots and tied for 26th.

Chael’s 228 and 26th-place finish mark her best tournament since the Mercedes-Benz Championship in September.

Sophomore Isabelle Johansson completed her team-best sixth top-50 finish of the season in a tie for 30th. Despite Sunday’s tough conditions, she was able to avoid her first round of the year in the 80s with a 79. Overall, she was 13-over par for the weekend.

Freshman Anna Hack was unable to build on her career-low 71 on Saturday and fired an 81 on Sunday. At 14-over par, she tied for 30th.

Senior Cylia Damerau carded a final-day 78 to come out at 18-over par for the weekend and in a tie for 47th.

The Bryan marks the final regular-season tournament of the year for the Wildcats. UK will break for two weeks before the Southeastern Conference Championship in Birmingham, Ala., April 15-17.

The Champions Course at Bryan Park played at 6,386 yards this week and a par 72. Opened in 1990 under the design of world-renowned golf course architect Rees Jones, seven holes at the Champions Course border the scenic Lake Townsend.