UK Sets Second-Best, 18-Hole Round in Program History in First Round of 2023-24
CHARLESTON, S.C. – CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wildcats put together a 270 (-14) in the first round of its season opener at the Cougar Classic on Monday, which marked the second-best, 18-hole round in program history. In the process, a trio of players produced a round under par and found their way in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard, while freshman Brooke Oberparleiter went even par in her collegiate debut.
The No. 23 University of Kentucky women’s golf team was scheduled to play 36 holes Monday, but made it just halfway through the second round when the tournament was suspended due to weather. The field will resume the second round Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the third round.
Kentucky is currently in second place, just one shot off the lead, despite leading for majority of the tournament. Clemson made a push just before the weather suspension, topping the leaderboard through 10-12 holes of the second round at 19-under. Kentucky is in second place at 18-under, while LSU is in third place at 17-under.
Laney Frye picked up where she left off last spring, pacing the lineup through the first round with the second-best, 18-hole round of her college career.
The Wildcat from Nicholasville, Kentucky, turned in a 7-under-par 64 in the first round of her senior season, collecting six birdies, an eagle and just one bogey on the morning. Her lone bogey came on her first hole of the day, the par-3 No. 3. She then fired back-to-back birdies over her next two holes that more than made up for her early blemish.
Her eagle came on the 504-yard, par-5 No. 18.
Fyre is already 3-under through 10 holes in the second round, helping her settle in second place on the individual leaderboard for the night at 1-under. She is just one shot off leader Lauren Olivares of NC State, who shot a 60 (-11) in the first round.
Right behind Frye, teammate María Villanueva Aperribay recorded a 3-under-par 68 in the first round.
The graduate student fired four birdies through her first six holes Monday, and one more later on the par-4 No. 14 to offset the two bogeys on her scorecard. In the second round, she is already 2-under through 11 holes. The Wildcat is currently tied for sixth place at 5-under overall, and she is in the hunt for her first top-10 finish since last March.
Jensen Castle didn’t waste time climbing the individual leaderboard either.
Despite taking a bogey on her first and last hole of the first round, she sandwiched six birdies and 10 pars in between to assemble a 4-under-par 67. The graduate student is even par through 10 holes in the second round, as she sits in a tie for eighth place at the Cougar Classic.
Playing in the first tournament of her college career, Brooke Obeparleiter shined with and even par in the first round at the Cougar Classic. On the very first hole of her collegiate debut, she earned a birdie on the par-4 No. 4. Her morning scorecard included a trio of birdies and a trio of bogeys, while the freshman got more comfortable as the round went on as evident by her eight straight pars to close out the first round.
Oberparleiter is just 1-over through 10 holes into the second round and is tied for 51st place in the tournament thus far.
Marissa Wenzler, another returning fifth year alongside Villanueva Aperribay and Castle, had a relatively calm first round, but a double bogey on just her third hole of the day set her back early. She recorded a bogey on the par-4 No. 12 and a birdie on the par-3 No. 16 that washed each other out, as she put together a 2-over par 73 in her first 18 holes at the Cougar Classic.
So far in the second round, she is 1-over through 12 holes. The Wildcat is sitting in a tie for 61st place.
The field can expect patchy fog and a slight chance of thunderstorms for the remainder of the second round and the final round Tuesday.
Fans are encouraged to follow along with live scoring on Golfstat.com.
Scorecard
2 Laney Frye 64
T6 Jensen Castle 67
T8 María Villanueva Aperribay 68
T51 Brooke Oberparleiter 71
T61 Marissa Wenzler 73
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
