Kentucky Women’s Golf Heads West for Clover Cup
MESA, Ariz. – In the heart of the schedule and with the postseason just around the corner, the Kentucky women’s golf team will take a veteran lineup out west to the Clover Cup, hosted by Notre Dame.
UK will compete with three seniors, a junior and a sophomore at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona. Seniors Isabelle Johansson and Grace Rose, junior Leonie Bettel, sophomore Sarah Shipley and senior Ale Walker will participate in the 16-team field starting Friday. For Walker, it will be her first appearance since withdrawing from the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in October with an injury.
The 54-hole stroke-play tournament will feature 18 holes a day, Friday through Sunday. Teams will begin play with an 11 a.m. ET start on holes Nos. 1 and 10. Live scoring will be available throughout the week at BirdieFire.com.
It’s the second straight appearance for the Wildcats in the Clover Cup after placing fifth at last year’s tournament.
“We are looking forward to going back to the Clover Cup and Longbow Golf Club this week,” UK women’s head coach Golda Borst said. “The team really enjoyed this tournament last year and the course is one that suits our players.
“We have several familiar faces in our lineup and we will have all three seniors with us this week. We’re happy to have Ale back as she has been recovering from her injury and is ready to compete. I believe that this team is capable of a lot more than what we have showed this spring and this week will be a great opportunity for us to step up and do just that.”
The Wildcats entered the week ranked No. 63 in the Golfstat rankings – in position to make their seventh NCAA regional appearance in the eight-year Borst era. But the Wildcats also entered the season with higher hopes to reach the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1992.
To do that, as Borst said, UK will need to round into form with just two tournament, including this week’s Clover Cup, before postseason begins with the Southeastern Conference Championship in April.
Kentucky’s lineup this week is certainly more than capable as all five golfers have experienced plenty of success in their careers. Johansson, who will finish her UK career in a few months as one of the best golfers in school history, paced the Wildcats just over a week ago at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Florida. She tied for 19th, tying her with Rose with a team-high three top-20 finishes. She owns the best scoring average in the spring at 73.3 strokes per 18 holes.
Rose has been UK’s most consistent golfer throughout the entire 2017-18 season with three top-20 finishes, an individual title at the Bettie Lou, the best 54-hole score of the season and a 73.5 stroke average overall, tops among players with more than five rounds. She was one stroke back of Johansson at the Hurricane Invitational.
Both Johansson and Rouse have had 18 of their 19 scores counted towards the team score this season, the best mark on the team.
Bettel was actually UK’s best golfer in the final two rounds of the Hurricane Invitational after a rocky start. The junior from Austria put a tournament-opening 80 behind her with a 74 in the second round and a 73 in the final.
Shipley last appeared in the Florida State Match-Up at the beginning of February. She played well with a 10-over 226 to tie for 39th.
But perhaps the biggest boost this week is the return of Walker. Plagued by injuries over the last few seasons, Walker is one of Kentucky’s finest when she’s healthy. Walker tied for 22nd at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship and was among the leaders at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational before having to withdraw in the third round. She was averaging a team-best 72.2 strokes before the injury.
The 16-team field this week will feature UK, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Delaware, FIU, IUPUI, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas State, Toledo, UNC Charlotte and UNC Greensboro. Four of those teams are ranked in the top 50 and two are in the top 15.
Longbow Golf Club will play at 6,184 yards, a par 72. The course opened in 1997 and was redesigned in 2003.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
