LEXINGTON, Ky. – Alex Goff, a senior on the Kentucky men’s golf team, has been named Southeastern Conference Golfer of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday. Goff posted the second-lowest 54-hole score in program history earlier this week, carding a 16-under-par 200 to finish second at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.
Goff, a native of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, opened with a 6-under 66 on Sunday, followed by a 7-under 65 on Monday and a final-round 3-under 69 on Tuesday to best his previous career low by a stroke and finish two strokes off of current UK assistant coach Ben Fuqua’s 198 set at the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate in the 2008-09 season. Fuqua’s score still stands as the best individual tournament score in the Brian Craig era.
Goff held a three-stroke lead heading into a final round in which he carded five birdies against a double-bogey on the par-3 12th hole to post the 3-under 69 on Tuesday, but Furman’s Will Morlan came from behind to fire a final-round 8-under 64 to win by two strokes at 18-under for the tournament. The second-place finish ties Goff’s second-best career finish after placing second at the Battle at Briar’s Creek this February and winning the Blessings Collegiate Invitational to start his sophomore season in 2020-21.
The tournament marked Goff’s third time playing the Hootie at Bulls Bay, where he now has seven rounds under par in nine rounds played. He now has a team-high 17 rounds of par-or-better, including a team-best 15 under-par, in his senior campaign.
Goff is putting together one of the best individual seasons by a Wildcat in recent memory. He has three top 10 finishes and seven of his eight tournaments have resulted in a top 20, as Goff has bested 84.5% of his opponents, a number only topped by J.B. Holmes (93.2%) in his 2003-04 All-American campaign. Goff’s par-4 scoring average ranks the second in a single season dating back to the 1993-94 campaign, while his par-scoring average sits third and his par-5 average ranks fourth. Both his 70.96 scoring average in 2022-23 and his career scoring average of 71.88 currently rank first in program history dating back to the 1993-94 season.
The Cats are back in action when they travel to Charlottesville, Virginia, April 10-11 for the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial at Birdwood Golf Course.
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