GRAND HAVEN, Michigan – In the first round under the direction of head coach Gator Todd, the Kentucky men’s golf team carded a 6-over-par 290 to sit in a tie for seventh at the Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan. With 12 teams within 10 strokes of the lead after 18 holes, the Cats sit eight strokes back of first-place South Carolina, which fired a 2-under 282.
The Cats tee off in their second round starting at 11:10 p.m. Tuesday.
The Cats sit in a tie for seventh at 6-over-par after 18 holes at the Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes. @jansenpreston (E, T15) and Alex Goff (+1, T20) sit in the top 20 after the first round in Grand Haven, Michigan.#GoBigBlue pic.twitter.com/7uD5p0eCbl
— Kentucky Men’s Golf (@UKmensgolf) September 5, 2023
“It was awesome to get our season started off today at such a special course,” Todd said. I thought we showed some nerves early but the guys settled into the round and battled their way back in the tournament. We had all five guys in it today and I’m proud of the fight of this group. We’re going to need to be better tomorrow if we want to be in contention going into Wednesday.”
Lexington native Jansen Preston, playing in his first tournament for the Wildcats after transferring from Vanderbilt, carded four birdies to offset four bogeys on his way to an even-par 71. Sitting at 2-over-par through six holes, Preston birdied the par-4 eighth hole before notching three back-nine birdies to sit in a tie for 15th.
Graduate Alex Goff sits in a tie for 20th after recording three birdies against four bogeys for a 1-over 72 while freshman Michael Hake bounced back from a 2-over opening nine to shoot an even-par 36 on the back to sit tied for 32nd and 2-over-par.
Kentucky closed strong, going 3-under-par on the back nine and 1-under on the par-5 closing hole. Freshman Michael Hake made par after striping his tee shot, while graduate Alex Goff chipped in for birdie to close his round.#GoBigBlue https://t.co/K0Ayt4nTbB pic.twitter.com/Z0vRJOaEIU
— Kentucky Men’s Golf (@UKmensgolf) September 5, 2023
Senior Campbell Kremer bounced back nicely after a difficult start to his round. Sitting at 7-over through 10 holes, Kremer made par on the par-4 11th before making an ace on the 192-yard par-3 12th. The Louisville native followed up the hole-in-one with a pair of birdies and, after making a bogey on the par-4 16th, closed with a par on 17 and a birdie on the par-5 18 to sit tied for 44th after a 3-over 74.
Redshirt freshman Solomon Petrie is tied with Kremer after notching a 3-over-74 in his first collegiate round. Petrie made all pars on his opening nine except for a double-bogey on the par-4 second hole. He then made a bogey on the par-4 10th but played even-par golf the remainder of the way.
As a team, Kentucky paced the field in par-3 scoring at 4-under while making 57 pars, the second-most in the 18-team field. Individually, Preston and Kremer are tied for first in par-3 scoring at 2-under while Hake and Petrie are tied for second with 14 pars.
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