Wildcats March on to Semis Behind 4-1-0 Win Over Tennessee
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Behind a 4-1-0 win over No. 22 Tennessee in its first appearance in the quarterfinals of match play at the Southeastern Conference Championship, the Kentucky men’s golf team moved on to the semifinals and will face top-seeded Auburn at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The semifinals matches can be seen via WatchESPN and live stats will be available via golfstat.com.
Freshman Cullan Brown picked up Kentucky’s first point behind a 5&3 win in the No. 3 pairing. Brown’s momentum swung in his favor when he went 1 UP at the turn. From there he put the pressure on and created some separation over Brayden Garrison for the dominating victory.
The Wildcats secured their second point when senior Fred Allen Meyer, who played his best golf of the week during Saturday’s critical round, went 1 UP at 17. He finished off Nolan Ray at the 18th to move the Wildcats’ score to 2-0.
Senior Max Mehles clinched the win with a 2&1 score at the 17th. Mehles gutted out a win after taking an early lead only to see it swing back into Tennessee’s Rhys Nevin-Wharton’s favor late. Mehles picked it up at the 16th and then was able to secure Kentucky’s spot in the semifinals on the 17th.
Senior Lukas Euler was credited with Kentucky’s fourth point as he was 1 UP through 16 when Mehles secured the win. Junior Matt Liston also played terrifically and was all square through 18. Tennessee garnered its only point when Tyler Johnson picked up a stroke on the 19th hole in his matchup with Liston prior to Mehles’ victory.
Kentucky earned the fourth seed in the quarterfinals of match play after tying for third during stroke play action. The Wildcats produced their best tournament score of the season, and the fourth-lowest mark in Brian Craig’s tenure. The Cats were the fourth seed after tying Texas A&M for third. The tiebreaker to determine seeding was based on the cumulative total of non-competing scores from all three rounds.
Auburn won stroke play by 16 shots over second-place Vanderbilt. The Tigers moved on to the semifinals of match play with a 4-1-0 win over eighth-seeded South Carolina in this morning’s quarterfinals.
The two teams who advance from the semifinals round will compete for the league crown on Sunday. The championship match will air live on the SEC Network.
This is the third season in which the SEC Championship has added three rounds of match play which mirrors the NCAA Championship format to determine its conference champion. This is the first season the Wildcats advanced to match play.
This marks the 19th year for the SEC Championship to be contested on the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course. The SEC has conducted its annual championship on St. Simons Island since 2001. 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 Hotels” by Golf Digest Index, Sea Island Golf Club offers three exceptional 18-hole championship courses. The Seaside Course, home to the PGA TOUR’s McGladrey Classic, is a links course graced by majestic ocean vistas in the tradition of St. Andrews.
Originally designed in 1929 by famed architects Harry S. Colt and Charles Alison, the Seaside Course was updated in 1999 by Tom Fazio – earning it a prominent place on Golf Digest’s list of “Top 100 Courses in the United States.”
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
