Two Wildcats to Participate in Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky men’s golfers Jacob Cook and Garrett Wood will open the 2022 spring slate on Monday at the Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase at The Riveria Country Club in Palisades, California.
UK’s duo will pair up with PGA pros and play 18 holes. The low amateur among the field during Monday’s round will receive exemption to appear in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Open on the same course beginning on Thursday.
Cook will tee off at 7:50 a.m. PT alongside Thomas Pieters, while Wood opens his round at 8 a.m. PT and he is paired with Scott Stallings.
Former Wildcat Lukas Euler scored a 4-under 67 and won the amateur event in 2019. He narrowly missed the cut in his PGA Tour debut later in the week.
Debuting in 1926 at Los Angeles Country Club as the Los Angeles Open, the PGA Tour Genesis Open was staged at various courses throughout the Los Angeles area before permanently settling at The Riviera Country Club in 1973. Known as the site of Jack Nicklaus’ professional debut, Tiger Woods’ first PGA tournament and with 25 champions in the World Golf Hall of Fame, the course has seen many major moments in golf history.
Cook and Wood headlined the three stroke-play tournaments during the fall season for the Wildcats. The duo accounted for four of the team’s eight top-20 finishes and three of the five top-10 finishes.
Cook enjoyed the best stretch of his career during UK’s fall season. He led the team with a 71.00 scoring average and two top-10 finishes. Cook had four rounds of par or better and earned a career-low finish of a tie for seventh at the Island Resort Intercollegiate. The Frankfort, Kentucky, native also generated a career-low score of 204 (-6) in a ninth-place finish at the Old Town Collegiate Invitational. This will mark his first appearance in the Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase.
Wood matched Cook’s 71.00 scoring average and had a runner-up finish at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational in the team’s last event of the fall. Wood has produced five par-or-lower rounds thus far in 2021-22 and has two scores of 207 or lower this season. He fired a 205 and tied for 14th at the Old Town event which matched a career-low score. The Mason, Ohio, native fired a career-low 7-under round during the third round of the Steelwood. Wood is also making his first appearance at the Genesis.
The UK men’s golf team resumes its spring schedule Feb. 28-March 1 at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate. It’ll mark the first of five regular-season events during the spring schedule. The Southeastern Conference Championship is slated for April 20-24 in St. Simons Island, Georgia, at Seaside Golf Club.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on the web at UKathletics.com.
