Men’s Golf Announces 2018-19 Schedule
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fresh off one of the most successful seasons in the Brian Craig era, the Kentucky men’s golf team will look to replicate its success from last season, which saw four tournament wins paired with its first NCAA Championship appearance since 2016, with a somewhat familiar yet challenging slate for the 2018-19 campaign.
“This schedule is fabulous and definitely meets our two main goals,” Craig said. “First, we want to play the absolute best courses we can play. In golf, your main competitor is the course and you need to play challenging courses to learn and grow. Secondly, we want to play in stacked fields. We will definitely have that, especially in the spring schedule. Our guys have competed well over the summer and I can’t wait to get started.”
UK will stick close to home to begin the first two weeks of the season with the opening test coming at the Louisville Cardinal Challenge, hosted at the University of Louisville Golf Club Sept. 14-16. For the second week of action, the Wildcats will return to the Bearcat Invitational at Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, to defend their title Sept. 24-25. Four Wildcats placed in the top-16 individuals, including champion Chip McDaniel.
Middle Tennessee State University and The Grove Club in College Grove, Tennessee, will play host to the Franklin American Mortgage Intercollegiate Oct. 7-9. UK claimed the crown in its single appearance at The Grove back in 2015.
After finishing in second place in 2016 and fourth last season, the Wildcats will round out the fall portion of the schedule by returning to the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Alabama, Oct. 27-29. Lukas Euler was the high finisher for UK on the leaderboard in 2017, tied for second place at four-under par.
The spring slate will begin Feb. 23-24 when the team makes its first showing at the Seminole Intercollegiate since it placed fourth in 2003. Hosted by Florida State, the tournament is held at Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee, Florida.
For the third consecutive season, UK will travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to take on the General Hackler Collegiate March 11-12 after posting its highest finish in the event last season at the Dunes Club when the team finished fourth. This Robert Trent Jones course plays over 7,300 yards and underwent a three-month renovation in 2013 in order to co-host the 2014 PGA Professional National Championship. The Dunes Club has also hosted many PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour, Amateur, National, and State competitions, while being ranked in the “Top 100 Golf Courses” in numerous magazines.
The Wildcats will enter familiar territory just days later March 15-17 at the Schenkel Invitational, held at Forest Heights Golf Club in Statesboro, Georgia. UK has cracked the top five in the event in each of the last four seasons.
For the 15th consecutive season, the team will compete in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, South Carolina, will host the event March 24-26. This 7,220-yard course, just minutes from Charleston, is stimulating and offers two par fives that are more than 600 yards long. This tournament annually features some of the best collegiate programs in the nation. Euler and Max Mehles led the Wildcats to a third-place finish in the event last season, firing a combined 17-under par and finishing second and tied for sixth, respectively.
UK will close out the regular season with a challenge at the Shoal Creek Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama, April 15-16. Designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus in 1975, Shoal Creek – at 7,400 yards, par 72 – recently hosted the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open in addition to the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championships.
The Seaside Course at the stellar Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia, will host the Southeastern Conference Championship for the 19th time April 24-28. Since 1927, the Sea Island Golf Club has enjoyed a legacy as one of America’s premier golf clubs. Rated No. 1 in the U.S. among the “World’s 50 Best Golf Resorts” by Golf Digest, Sea Island offers three exceptional 18-hole championship courses. The Seaside Course, updated by Tom Fazio in 1999 and home to the PGA Tour’s McGladrey Classic, is a links course graced by majestic ocean vistas in the tradition of St. Andrews. Sea Island is also the only resort in the world to receive four Forbes Five-Stars nine years in a row.
Following the SEC Championship will be the NCAA Regional Championship May 13-15 at a location to be determined.
The 2019 NCAA Championships will be held from May 24-29 at Arkansas’s Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville. At over 7,500 yards, this championship course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 2004.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
