Long Wait is Over for UK Women's Golf Team
The late Tom Petty once said that the waiting is the hardest part. The UK women’s golf team has been waiting for six years to host a tournament, a wait that will come to an end this weekend.
The 28th Bettie Lou Evans Invitational will return to the University Club of Kentucky this weekend. After a six-year hiatus, the three-day golf tournament will make its triumphant comeback this weekend.
Formerly named the Wildcat Fall Invitational, the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational was renamed in 2009 to honor former Kentucky women’s golf coach Bettie Lou Evans.
“She wasn’t a big fan that I put her name on the tournament, but I said, ‘You know what, Bettie Lou, we want to honor you and you’re very special, so this is our way of doing that,’ ” said Golda Borst, the current Kentucky women’s golf coach. “She is very humble.”
Bettie Lou Evans has been a staple of the program
since its inception n the late 1970s.
Evans began her coaching career at UK in 1979. She served in that capacity before retiring as head coach in 2001. Evans still serves in a fundamental role within the golf program as the director of golf operations.
The tournament was established in Evans’ first year as head coach. Previous tournaments were hosted by UK before it became a varsity sport. In its founding year, it was named the Lady Cats Invitational and Evans played an instrumental role in developing the tournament to withstand 28 years of competition.
The tournament was not held between 1998 through 2001, in 2008 and in 2010, before the six-year gap between 2011 through 2017. The Wildcat team was busy building their schedules, according to Borst, and they had opportunities to play in other tournaments that the program took advantage of during the six-year break.
“This year we just kind of dug our heels in and created the event and said, ‘OK, let’s plan to make this one of the best in the country and bring it back,’ ” Borst said.
The three-day tournament is scheduled to begin with a practice round on Thursday, followed by 18-hole rounds Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The decision to bring the tournament back the Bluegrass was more than just good timing. The team had been asking Borst for years if they could bring back their home tournament.
“I remember we’ve always been like, ‘Please, Coach, can we host a home event?'” redshirt senior Ale Walker said. “The whole team is so excited.”
The team was not alone in its plea for a home tournament. Someone else had also been begging for the tournament to make a comeback — someone with a lot of persuasion.
“I’ve been begging for a while,” Evans said. ” ‘Please let us have this tournament! Please let us have this tournament!’ “
The 2017 Kentucky squad will get a tournament experience that none of the current players have had in their careers, beginning with a home-course advantage. The Wildcats and their staff can pick the hole locations and also choose how to setup the golf course. The team is familiar with the trouble areas on the wide-open course and they are also accustomed to playing into the wind that whirls across the course regularly.
In addition to a home-course advantage, the players are excited about the friends and families that are coming to watch the team play. The community has a convenient opportunity to rally around the program and watch the players compete for their first home win since 2011.
The University has also been very supportive of the tournament’s return and the program has received a lot of resources and volunteer help from the athletic department. Mitch Barnhart, Kentucky’s athletics director, is a golfer himself. Barnhart is expected to attend the tournament.
“The girls, they deserve it,” Evans said. “I have people, friends, golfing friends who want to watch them and now they’ll get to.”
As for the Wildcats, the program’s last win in any tournament was in the fall of 2013, when Walker was a freshman. The Wildcats would really like to end that drought this weekend at home.
“To me, it would be great to win the thing as an individual and as the whole team, just to let everyone know that this is the home team and we’re ready to go and really excited about it,” Walker said.
The field consists of 16 teams representing 10 different conferences. The 16 teams competing are Akron, Ball State, Bradley, Cincinnati, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Illinois, Illinois State, Indiana, Murray State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Toledo, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin, and, of course, Kentucky.
The field was chosen by various standards. Teams were invited based around good relationships that Borst has with other programs and also if the tournament fit in other teams’ schedules. Borst’s goal was to ensure the tournament had an even field with some of the best teams in the country and also teams who don’t typically have the opportunity to play in Southeastern Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference tournaments.
“I think the main thing is we are just trying to honor Bettie Lou for what she’s done for the program,” Borst said. “She did a lot for it for a long time and I don’t want that to be forgotten.”
Evans coached some of the best players that have come through the program. She recruited and coached the only two All-Americans that Kentucky has ever had. Evans also led the Wildcats to the last NCAA Championship apperance the team attended.
“I think it’s important to note that she’s really been one of the best coaches to come through here for us,” Borst said. “So, I want make sure that we honor her the right way.”
Evans hopes to leave a legacy on the program that reminds all of the players that come through the program to have an enjoyable experience. Evans wants the team to experience success and win tournaments, but more importantly she wants the student-athletes to graduate from Kentucky had having a very enjoyable time.
They’ve waited long enough, and now, the time for a home tournament is finally here.
