Frye Leads Wildcats at Florida Gators Invitational
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Freshman Laney Frye led the way for the Kentucky women’s golf team during the opening round of the Florida Gators Invitational Presented by VyStar on a cloudy, but pleasant Sunday at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Frye shot a 2-over 72, just one stroke off her career low, and is tied for 12th on the individual leaderboard. The Wildcats are in 12th as a team through the opening 18 holes, but the field is jumbled, and just 12 strokes separates UK from a top-five spot in Gainesville, Florida.
UCF is the clubhouse leader following a 3-over-par round. Tennessee is three shots back and Florida is just one off the Lady Volunteers’ pace.
Play resumes Monday at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring is available throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com.
“Today was not our day,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “I felt like we were in a good frame of mind when we teed off, but the course got the best of us. We have to be able to find a way to get the ball in the hole and we will fight to play better over the next two days.”
Kentucky began its round on the back nine and Frye, who entered the tournament with UK’s best scoring average opened with four straight pars. A bogey at the par-four 14th was her lone blemish through her first 10 holes of the day. Frye yielded another stroke at the par-3 second but combated that with a birdie at the par-5 third.
A bogey followed at the fourth, but Frye gained the stroke back once again with a birdie on the par-5 seventh. She finished with a 2-over-par 72 after a bogey on the final hole of the day.
Sophomore María Villanueva Aperribay is tied for 33rd after carding a round of 74. She is making her third start of the season and is in the hunt for her second top-20 finish of the year. Birdies at the third and 12th holes highlighted her round.
Sophomore Jensen Castle logged a 6-over 76 and finished the day in a tie for 47th. Castle had a team-high four birdies during her round but could not shake free from seven bogey-plagued holes.
Sophomore Marissa Wenzler is tied for 72nd and senior Rikke Svejgård Nielsen is tied for 74th following rounds of 81 and 82, respectively.
The Florida Gators Invitational is nearly 50 years old, but this is Kentucky’s first appearance in the event since 2012. The Mark Bostick Golf Course, a Donald Ross design, is playing at 6,002 yards and a par of 70.
Of the 14 teams in this week’s field, eight are from the Southeastern Conference. Eight teams are ranked in the Golfstat top 25.
This is the first of four tournaments for the Wildcats over the next seven weeks.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
