Cats Hanging Strong in Tough Field at Gamecock Intercollegiate
BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. – Against one of the toughest fields in all of college golf, the Kentucky women’s golf team showed on day one of the Gamecock Intercollegiate that it can hang with the nation’s best.
On day two, the Wildcats hope to do more than just hang around; they hope to move up from the middle of a crowded leaderboard.
Kentucky is in 11th place in the 18-team field at the Columbia Country Club (par 72, 6,297 yards) in Blythewood, South Carolina, after opening the tournament with a 10-over-par 298. Freshman Laney Frye is once again among the individual leaders after firing an even-par 72.
The Wildcats kept themselves in contention heading into the second round, an important first step for a team that got off to a rough start last week at the Florida Gators Invitational. Duke leads at 6-under par, one of five schools in red numbers, but UK is within striking distance of some quality teams, including trailing the top-ranked Baylor Bears by just four shots.
“We were close to a really good round today; unfortunately we made a few too many small mistakes and not enough birdies on the day,” Kentucky head coach Golda Borst said. “Now we have two rounds under our belt on this course and I know this team is itching to get back out there tomorrow. Let’s see if we can build some momentum and get our putts to fall. We are plenty capable to compete on this course.”
The second round will tee off Tuesday at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start. With inclement weather in the forecast for Wednesday, the final round will be moved up to Tuesday afternoon and teams will play until dark. What remains of the tournament will be completed Wednesday.
Live scoring will continue to be available at Golfstat.com.
This week’s tournament is serving as a mid-spring check. The Wildcats have shown some of the same signs that led to a breakthrough 2019-20 campaign, but Kentucky has been plagued by consistency issues.
Heading into the third regular-season event of the spring before postseason play, this week offers plenty of challenges as UK tries to get in gear for the homestretch of the season, including less than a week’s turnaround from the Gators Invitational and arguably the best field college golf will offer this season. Five of the top seven teams in the Golfstat rankings are playing in Blythewood.
Frye continued her sensational freshman season with another round of even par. After an early test of two bogeys in her first four holes, Frye bounced back to go 1-under the rest of the day and record her team-leading sixth round of par or better this season.
Tied for 20th, Frye is three shots back of the six-way logjam for first place at 3-under par.
Sophomore Jensen Castle was among those leaders on her front nine. She made the turn at 1-under par with three birdies but could not sustain the momentum on the back nine. Two bogeys and a double bogey ended up in a 75, tied for 47th.
Fellow sophomore María Villanueva Aperribay is alongside Castle at 3-over par. Villanueva Aperribay carded two birdies on the day with 11 pars and five bogeys.
Senior Rikke Svejgård Nielsen is a stroke behind at 4-over par. Fifth-year senior Sarah Shipley, making her 2020-21 debut, is tied for 91st at 8-over par. Shipley, playing in her 100th collegiate round Monday, hopes to shake off the rust after recording a career-best 73.9 stroke average last season.
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.
