Goff Rebounds with Under-Par Round to Lead Day Two at Hootie
AWENDAW, S.C. – Sophomore Alex Goff rebounded from a tough opening day with a score of 69 (-3) to lead the Kentucky men’s golf team during the second round of the Hootie at the Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. The Wildcats concluded the day in 14th following a second straight round of 294 (+6).
“We need to put the first two rounds behind us and really focus in on having a good round tomorrow,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “This team is talented, but we have some things we need to work on.”
The final round takes place Tuesday beginning at 8 a.m. ET. The Wildcats will tee off from the 10th alongside Iowa State and Wichita State. Live scoring will be provided by birdiefire.com.
No. 18 N.C. State and seventh-ranked Auburn are tied for the lead at 13-under par. Missouri is third at 12-under, followed by Kent State (-10) and Duke (-6) to round out the top five. Kentucky is in 14th with a plus-12 combined score. The Wildcats are within reach of a top-10 finish, trailing Kansas and Marquette by just six strokes.
Goff played spectacularly and rebounded from his opening round 77 with a 3-under 69 today. He got his round off to a great start with a birdie on his opening hole at the par-five 10th. He made the turn at 1-under thanks to another birdie at the 16th offsetting his lone mistake through the first nine holes. The Kings Mountain, North Carolina, native birdied the par-five second to move to 2-under but yielded the shot back on the third. An eagle at the par-five fourth was the highlight of his round. Goff played even par the rest of the way to finish the day at 3-under.
He has now generated eight par-or-better rounds this season with six scores being sub-70s. Goff is tied for 40th overall on the individual leaderboard.
Classmate Cooper Parks shaved a stroke off his day one score with a 2-over 74 during Monday’s round. Parks opened with a par and then birdied the 11th. He yielded the shot back on the 12th, but quickly rebounded with a birdie at the par-five 13th to get to 1-under at the turn. Parks had four bogeys through his first seven holes after the turn but ended his day on a high note with a birdie at the par-four eighth. Parks is tied for 62nd overall through two rounds.
Senior Allen Hamilton is also tied for 62nd following a second round 76. Graduate student Reid Bedell fired a 75 and is tied for 47th, while classmate Jacob Cook is tied for 75th following Monday’s score of 77.
Freshman Hugo Archer is tied for 75th playing as an individual. Archer charted a career-low round of even-par on Monday. He opened his day with a birdie at the 10th and then logged his first-career eagle at the par-four 16th.
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. It lies along the tidal salt marshes to the north of Charleston and is known for its bold and somewhat idiosyncratic style. Taking into account the ever-changing coastal wind conditions, fairways are wide and green sites generously proportioned to offer the players a wide variety of approach play.
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