Alex Goff Helps Cats to Fifth Place Through Two Rounds

LOXLEY, Ala. – Paced by a pair of under-par rounds by junior Alex Goff the Kentucky men’s golf team sits in great position heading into Sunday’s final round of the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational. Goff is tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard with a combined 5-under scorecard, while the Wildcats are in fifth but just seven shots off the leader.
 
Missouri owns the advantage heading into the final day with a 17-under score. The host team, South Alabama, is second at 12-under with Mississippi State and Rutgers tied at 11-under. UK produced a 10-tally, bolstered by a 9-under score during the second round, to move into contention with 18 holes to play. Kentucky’s 9-under was the second lowest on the course during the second round. Only Mississippi State’s 10-under scorecard was better.
 
The field will finish the tournament with a final round on Sunday. Kentucky tees off from the No. 1 tee box at 9:25 a.m. ET alongside Rutgers and Kansas State. Live stats are available via golfstat.com.
 
“Patience was the theme today for these guys,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “They did an excellent job of playing aggressive but smart golf. We had a strong finish to the second round to get within striking distance. Tomorrow will be fun.”
 
All five of UK’s starters contributed on the opening day. Goff led the way with scores of 71 and 68 for a 5-under total. He is tied for fourth. The Kings Mountain, North Carolina, native was masterful during the second round. Goff logged five birdies to offset one bogey in the round. He opened with a birdie on the first hole and moved to 3-under through six holes with under-par scores at the third and fifth. He yielded a shot at the eighth but rebounded with two more birdies on the back nine coming at the 11th and 16th. Goff now has 24 par-or-better rounds in his career and is in the hunt for his fifth-career top-10 finish.
 
Jacob Cook closed the day tied for 15th powered by a 3-under second round. It marked the third sub-70 round of the season for the Frankfort, Kentucky, native. Cook opened the second round at the first tee box and played even par until a birdie at the ninth got him under par. He then picked up birdies on three of four holes at the 14th, 16th and 17th. A bogey at the 18th resulted in the 69. Cook has finished among the top 20 on the individual leaderboard in both of UK’s first two stroke-play events this season.
 
Garrett Wood is also tied for 15th. Wood posted rounds of 70 and 72. The Cincinnati native fought off three bogeys in the early going with a trio of birdies to get to even par in the second round. During the first round, Wood’s 70 led the Wildcats. Wood did not have any mistakes and logged birdies at the par-four fifth and the par-four 11th for move his total of par-or-better rounds in his career to 27.
 
Campbell Kremer is tied for 22nd after producing rounds of 73 and 70. Kremer’s opening nine holes were all under par during his sub-par second round. He got things going with a birdie at the 10th, before giving the shot back on the 11th. The Louisville, Kentucky, native rebound with birdies at the 16th and 18th to move to under par for the round.
 
Zach Norris is tied for 37th overall with a pair of 73s during Saturday’s action. He had a share of a countable round during the opening round as he and Cook and Kremer all fired 73s.
 
Individuals Jay Kirchdorfer and Hugo Archer are tied for 22nd and 64th, respectively. Kirchdorfer is looking for his second straight top-20 finish at Steelwood after placing 19th in 2019. He had rounds of 72 and 71 on Saturday. His second round was highlighted by back-to-back-to-back birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes. Archer shot rounds of 78 and 74.
 
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AGATE
5 – Kentucky (287, 279 – 566, -10)
T4 – Alex Goff (71, 68 – 139, -5)
T15 – Jacob Cook (73, 69 – 142, -2)
T15 – Garrett Wood (70, 72 – 142, -2)
T22 – Campbell Kremer (73, 70 – 143, -1)
T37 – Zach Norris (73, 73 – 146, +2)
 
Individual
T22 – Jay Kirchdorfer (72, 71 – 143, -1)
T64 – Hugo Archer (78, 74 – 152, +8)