Freshman Duo Paces Wildcats on First Day of PING ASU Invitational

TEMPE, Ariz. – There’s something in Arizona’s desert air that brings out the best in Kentucky women’s golf freshman Josephine Chang.

Three weeks after leading UK at the Clover Cup in nearby Mesa, Arizona, Chang was once again the steady force behind the Wildcats’ first round at the PING ASU Invitational in Tempe.

Chang fired a first-round 71 to tie her career low and lead Kentucky to a 7-over-par 295 on Friday at the Karsten Golf Course. Freshman teammate Sarah Shipley was nearly as good with a 1-over 73. 

Kentucky is in a tie for ninth place in a tightly bunched middle of the field. No. 5 Arizona State and No. 15 Baylor lead the 14-team field at 10-under par, but only 10 shots separate third place from 12th.

“It was good to see our freshmen lead the way today,” head coach Golda Johansson Borst said. “They were both steady from the start, and when they faced adversity, they battled back and hung tough. As a team, we unfortunately gave up a few shots at the end and that was disappointing, but we have two more days and a lot of great golf still in us. A lot can happen over 36 holes so we will battle all the way until the end and play hard.”

Second-round action will get underway Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. Live scoring will continue to be available at Golfstat.com. 

Kentucky’s freshman duo of Chang and Shipley played as well as they have all season. 

Chang, who fired back-to-back rounds of even par to end the Clover Cup a few weeks ago in Arizona, tied her career low Friday thanks to a three-birdie round. Chang’s lone rough patch of the day was a stretch of back-to-back bogeys on holes 9 and 10, but Chang was nearly flawless the rest of the day.

The California native birdied two of her last five holes for her seventh round of par or better this season, second most on the team. Chang is tied for 10th, seven shots back of the leader, Arizona State’s Monica Vaughn.

Shipley was coming off an even-par round of 72 at the LSU Tiger Classic two weeks ago and kept the positive momentum rolling Friday with a 73. Shipley managed just one birdie in the round, but she bogeyed just two holes to put her in a tie for 26th place.

Senior Jordan Chael made her return after missing each of the last two tournaments. She looked eager to return to competition with two birdies in her first five holes and three on her front nine. Although she was unable to sustain the red numbers after the turn, she’s in a tie for 43rd at 3-over par.

Veterans Grace Rose and Isabelle Johansson, arguably UK’s two most consistent golfers this season, had to deal with some uncharacteristic up-and-down play in the first round. Both Rose and Johansson recorded three birdies apiece, but a double bogey on Rose’s scorecard and two triple bogeys on Johansson cost them a chance to move further up the leaderboard.

Rose, with an opening-day 76, is tied for 50th, and Johansson, with a 77 on Friday, is in a tie for 55th.

The next two rounds could play a big factor in Kentucky’s postseason hopes. Not only are the Wildcats gearing up for the Southeastern Conference Championship in two weeks, they’re also looking to make the program’s sixth NCAA regional appearance in seven seasons of the Borst era.

UK entered the week ranked No. 53 in the Golfstat rankings, very much in the conversation to make it to NCAAs. The field presents some opportunities to boost the Wildcats’ résumé with eight of the 14 teams ranked in the top 50 and three in the top 25.

This week marks the 45th edition of the tournament but the first time the Wildcats have made an appearance in it during the Borst era. The Karsten Golf Course is playing host to the tournament with a 6,337-yard, par-72 layout.