LOXLEY, Alabama – The Kentucky men’s golf team wrapped up its fall slate with its second-consecutive fourth-place finish at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational Sunday at Steelwood Country Club. The Cats sat second with 18 holes to play but a final-round 8-over 296 put them behind champion Alabama, Chattanooga and Memphis.
Kentucky is now off until it opens its spring schedule Feb. 5-6 at the Battle at Briar’s Creek in Johns Island, South Carolina.
“Although the end result wasn’t what we were looking for we did a lot of great things this week,” head coach Gator Todd said. “Playing in the final group, this was the first time for us to be in contention this season. You can’t replicate those feelings unless you’re actually there. Today will make us better and help us down the road. We are excited for some down time this offseason. However, we have a lot of work to do this offseason to become the team we all know we can be.”
Graduate Alex Goff put together a solid performance once again, earning his fourth top-10 finish in as many events this season after a 1-under-par 71 locked him into a tie for second, his third such showing of the year. A native of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Goff found himself in a tie atop the leaderboard at the turn Sunday after a 3-under 33 opening nine. However, a bogey at the par-3 12th and a double at the par-4 13th stunted his chances at a victory before a birdie at the par-5 closing hole moved him within a shot of medalist Kobe Valociek of Virginia Tech.
“Individually, Alex is continuing to play with a ton of consistency,” Todd added. “He keeps putting himself in position to win and eventually he will break through. Four top six finishes is outstanding with the fall schedule we played.”
Sophomore Andrew Clark tied for 34th in his first event in the Wildcat lineup this season. The Winter Park, Florida, native followed up a 2-under-par 70 in the second round Saturday with a 3-over 75 with a trio of birdies against six bogeys in the final round Sunday.
Redshirt freshman Oakley Gee, in the lineup for the first time in his young career, put together a solid event in a tie for 37th. The native of Carmi, Illinois, used four birdies to help overcome a quadruple-bogey on the par-4 eighth hole to card a 2-over 74 in the final round.
Junior Jansen Preston was unable to get anything going Sunday to preserve momentum off a 1-under 71 in the second round Saturday, carding a 5-over 77 to place 41st. Senior Campbell Kremer rounded out the Wildcat lineup in a tie for 45th, tallying a 4-over 76 in the final round.
Playing as an individual, graduate student Cooper Parks got off to a slow start with bogeys on four of his first six holes but was able to right the ship, playing even-par golf the rest of the way to finish 77th after a 4-over-par 76 Sunday.
As a team, Kentucky ranked second in par-5 scoring at 15-under, while ranking third in par-3 scoring at 14-over. Individually, Goff tied for second in par-3 scoring at even-par, while tying for second with Gee in par-5 scoring at 7-under.
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