Kentucky Women’s Golf Adds Villanueva Aperribay from Augusta
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky women’s golf team added an immediate-impact piece to an already deep and talented squad for the 2020-21 season with the addition of Augusta University transfer María Villanueva Aperribay.
Villanueva signed official paperwork with the university on Wednesday and will join the Wildcats in the fall with immediate eligibility.
The sophomore-to-be was a major contributor for Augusta this past season as a freshman, appearing in six team events with a 73.6 stroke average in her first year of collegiate golf.
“We are incredibly excited about adding María to our team this fall,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “I have really enjoyed getting to know her over the last couple of months and I think she is a great fit for our team. She’s a strong, motivated competitor and her game will only continue to grow throughout her college career. We are really looking forward to having her on campus and can’t wait to get started on this upcoming season.”
Although just a freshman in 2019-20, Villanueva Aperribay played with the consistency of a veteran. She finished in the top 25 in four of her six appearances with 13 of her 18 rounds at 74 or lower, including five rounds of par or better.
In all four of those top-25 finishes, Villanueva Aperribay posted a 54-hole score of 219 or better with a season low of 218 at the Illini Invitational at Medinah in October. Her best finish was in February at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, where Villanueva Aperribay tied for 16th with a 3-over-par 219.
Villanueva Aperribay chose Kentucky over Mississippi State and South Carolina. She was ranked No. 213 in the national Golfstat rankings at the end of the abbreviated 2019-20 season.
“From the first moment I met Golda and (assistant coach) Brian (May), they treated me very well,” Villanueva Aperribay said of her decision to sign with UK. “I also like the way they see golf and the desire they have to help their players.”
Villanueva Aperribay’s success at Augusta should come as no surprise after a successful prep career in Europe. A native of San Sebastián, Spain, Villanueva Aperribay was an accomplished international competitor with victories at the Spanish Amateur Championship in 2019 (by nine strokes with a score of 8-under par), the Grand Prixe de la Nivelle in France in 2017, the Basque Country Regional Amateur Championship in 2013 and 2016, and the Basque Country Regional Girls Championship in 2015.
Villanueva Aperribay has been a member of the Spanish national program since 2014 and considers helping her country to a second-place finish at the European Girls’ Team Champioship in 2019 to be her crowning golf achievement thus far.
She also represented Spain in the Cuadrangular Match in 2018 against Italy, Germany and France, posted a runner-up finish at the Spanish Interautonomic Championship (under 18) in 2016 and 2017, and recorded a runner-up showing at the Spanish Interautonomic Match Play Championship in 2016.
Villanueva Aperribay attended the Leonés School in Castile and León, Spain, for two years prior to attending Augusta. She was chosen for the Spanish Elite Golf School in 2017-18.
She will join Lexington Christian Academy’s Laney Frye as the new additions to the Kentucky women’s golf team in 2020-21. Frye, the 2018 Kentucky High School Athletic Association state champion, is the top golfer out of the state of Kentucky.
UK will look to build on a historic 2019-20 season that included two team championships, a runner-up finish, shattering previous records for team and individual (Jensen Castle) stroke average, 10 individual top-10 showings, a final ranking of 25 in the season-ending Golfstat rankigns.
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