Bettel Records Second Top-20 Finish as Wildcat at Cardinal Cup
SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – Leonie Bettel, an offseason transfer from NC State, continued to show her immediate-impact ability with another solid showing for the Kentucky women’s golf team this weekend at the Cardinal Cup.
The junior from Vienna, Austria, recorded the second top-20 finish of her Wildcat career with an 8-over-par 224 to tie for 13th place at the U of L Golf Club (6,250 yards, par 72) in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
Bettel led the Wildcats to a 10th-place showing at the Cardinal Cup. Kentucky finished at 921 (57-over par) with a final-round 309 (21-over par). Host Louisville won the tournament with a final score of 13-over par, while the Cardinals’ Lauren Hartlage distanced herself from the field on day one and cruised to a 12-shot victory Sunday with a final score of 10-under par.
“This was a tough and disappointing weekend for us,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “I know we were better prepared and I know that we are a much better team than our scores showed over the last two days. Our entire team struggled to control their thoughts and emotions, and we need to get much tougher so we can better handle the adversity that we sometimes face throughout a round.”
Kentucky put itself behind the proverbial eight ball early in Saturday’s 36-hole marathon with some uncharacteristic mistakes. Out of contention on the final day, the Wildcats’ chief concern Sunday was to build some momentum heading into the final tournament of the season, which will be next weekend at the Landfall Tradition.
Although UK still had its fair share of adversity in the final round, the Wildcats did manage to tie for the sixth-best final-round score in the 15-team field on a difficult scoring day in Simpsonville.
“We now have two days to get our minds right and get ready for Wilmington, (North Carolina),” Borst said. “I have told my team to do just that. We need to learn from this and get over it so we can focus on our next event. We all know we are better than this and just need to be tougher and compete harder.”
Bettel was at one point tied for fourth place midway through Sunday’s round but faltered down the stretch with a 41 on her closing nine holes after going out on the opening nine at 1-over par.
Kentucky used Bettel’s score for all three rounds this weekend and have done so in seven of her nine rounds as a Wildcat.
The same could be said for senior Grace Rose, who contributed all three days with 74-75-78 for an 11-over-par 227. That tied Rose for 31st after tying for first place two weeks ago at Kentucky’s Bettie Lou Evans Invitational.
After an uncharacteristically tough Saturday, senior Isabelle Johansson looked more like herself in the final round with a 75. She ended up in a tie for 42nd with a 233 (17-over par).
Freshman Claire Cameron rounded out the team scoring for UK on Sunday with a 78 and tied for 68th with a 241 (25-over par). Junior Claire Carlin’s final-round score of 79 didn’t go towards the team total but she finished just ahead of Cameron this weekend in a tie for 64th with a 240 (24-over par).
In addition to the team scoring, sophomores Sarah Shipley and Josephine Chang played as individuals this weekend. Shipley was the top performer of the bunch with a 14-over-par 230 to tie for 37th.
Fite pulled off the round of the day for Kentucky with a 2-over-par 74 for her best score as a Wildcat. The most encouraging sign of all was that after Fite started 3-over par over her first four holes, she was 1-under par over her final 14 holes. She moved up 24 spots in the final round and tied for 42nd.
Chang tied for 58th with a 237 (21-over par)
Although the weekend didn’t go as planned for Kentucky, the team will have the opportunity to get right back on the course next weekend for the final fall tournament of the season. UK will travel to Wilmington for the Landfall Tradition, which runs Friday through Sunday.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Tw itter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
