Jansen Preston, Jack Schoenberger to Compete in 118th Southern Amateur

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky men’s golf members Jansen Preston and Jack Schoenberger will be a part of one of the elite fields in amateur golf when the 2024 Southern Amateur Championship comes to Lexington, July 17-20.

The two Wildcats will be among the 156 golfers to descend upon Idle Hour Country Club for this week’s championship, which features 72 holes of stroke play and a cut following the second round to the low 50 scores and ties.

First contested in 1902, the Southern Amateur boasts a prestigious history with past champions such as Bobby Jones, Ben Crenshaw, Justin Leonard, Harris English, Webb Simpson and more. The event is a part of the Elite Amateur Golf Series (EAGS) which seeks to enhance amateur golf by aligning seven of the top competitive amateur championships and providing exceptional playing opportunities for the best amateur golfers to compete at the highest level.

For Wednesday’s opening round, Preston will begin play at 9:20 a.m., while Schoenberger will tee-off at 2:10 p.m.

Spectators are welcome to attend the tournament and can follow live scoring here.

Preston is coming off a breakout spring in his first season with Kentucky, when he finished second on the team in scoring average at 72.12 and had five top-30 finishes in six spring starts. He advanced to U.S. Open sectional qualifying earlier this summer and made the cut at the Trans-Mississippi Amateur, another EAGS event, just last week.

Schoenberger will debut for UK this fall, having spent his first two collegiate seasons at Belmont. He posted a 70.5 scoring average in 2023-24 and was inside the top-20 in all 10 of his starts for the season. The former Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year has 37 rounds of par-or-better in 62 collegiate rounds.

For the latest on UK Men’s Golf follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram @UKmensgolf, and online at ukathletics.com.