Reid Bedell Leads the Way in Opening Round in Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – For the second-consecutive tournament, graduate student Reid Bedell paced the Kentucky men’s golf team during the opening round. This week Bedell fired a 2-over-par 73 and is tied for 29th to lead the UK starters. Freshman Hugo Archer, playing as an individual, led all Wildcats on the course with a one-over-par 72 and is tied for 21st. The Wildcats finished the day in 14th overall following an 18-over par round, but the entire field is within 19 shots of one another.
Kentucky is playing in its toughest field of the season with 13 of the 14 opponents ranking in the top 50 of the Golfstat rankings. No. 22 North Florida, the only team to play under par on Monday, is the clubhouse leader through 18 with a 1-under scorecard. Fourth-ranked Clemson and No. 19 Tennessee are tied for second at 2-over par. No. 10 Vanderbilt (+3) and No. 21 Arkansas (+4) round out the top five.
Round two resumes on Tuesday beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET. UK will tee off from the 10th alongside Alabama and UAB. Live scoring will be provided by golfstat.com.
Bedell fired a round of 73 to pace the starters. He is tied for 29th overall on the individual leaderboard following a round in which he had a team-high-tying four birdies. The Fair Haven, New Jersey, native opened the day with a double-bogey on the first and another bogey on the third to face a deficit out of the gate. Bedell steadied himself and rebounded with a birdie at the fourth. Another bogey followed at the fifth, but then his round really started to take shape. He had birdies on the par-four seventh and the par-four ninth as he made the turn at 1-over par. He suffered another setback at the 10th, but quickly erased the mistake with another birdie at the 11th. A bogey at the 16th provided his final margin for the day.
Archer shot a 1-over par 72 to lead all Wildcats on the course. It’s his third straight round of 72 dating back to his last two rounds at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. Archer had a trio of birdies to offset four bogeys on the day. He opened his round on the 10th, and played his final nine holes at even par. He’s tied for 21st overall on the individual leaderboard.
Senior Allen Hamilton is tied for 55th after one round following a 4-over 75. Sophomore Alex Goff and junior Zach Norris are tied for 70th after rounds of 77. Graduate student Jacob Cook is tied for 76th following a 78 to round out the starting lineup scores.
Sophomores Cooper Parks and Jackson LaLonde are also in the field as individuals. Parks matched Goff and Norris with a 77 and is tied for 70th, while LaLonde had an 83 and is in 80th place.
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