Kentucky Women’s Golf Prepares for Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team will compete in its third tournament of the season at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from Oct. 11-13. The Wildcats will tee off Friday beginning at 10:10 a.m. ET, paired with Michigan and UNC-Wilmington.
Fans are encouraged to visit UKathletics.com for a recap and results after each round of the tournament.
It will mark the program’s fifth appearance at the tournament in the last six seasons, placing in the top five each of the last three seasons. The Wildcats won the team championship just two years ago, while then-senior Jensen Castle also was crowned the individual champion the same year in 2022. The Cats formed a 4-under-par 860 to top the team leaderboard, marking their eighth-best, 54-hole team total in program history.
That lineup was full of upperclassmen, including one junior, three seniors and one graduate transfer. Fast forward two years later, Kentucky will bring a young and anxious lineup to the annual event on Chapel Hill, including senior Marta López Echevarría, sophomore Cathryn Brown, and a trio of freshmen in Elin Pudas Remler, C.A. Carter and Karlie Campbell.
It will mark Campbell’s first appearance in the official lineup, although she competed as an individual in the season opener at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational at Champion Trace at Keene Trace Golf Club in early September.
Despite the program’s recent history at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, López Echevarría is the only player in the lineup who has previously competed at the event. Last season, she strung together rounds of 76, 75 and 76 for an 11-over-par 227 to finish T49. Since that performance, which marked her season debut in 2023, five of her six tournaments that followed were below 10-over.
The Wildcats are currently averaging a 290.8 team stroke average / 72.7 individual stroke average through just two tournaments and six rounds in 2024-25. If the season ended today, the team stroke average would rank fourth in all-time program history. The Cats are coming off an impressive 2-under-par 862 at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tennessee, two weeks ago, eight strokes better than how the team performed there a season ago in 2023, which then featured a veteran-heavy, All-American lineup.
Eddyville, Kentucky, native Cathryn Brown is pacing the team so far this season after an all-star showing at the Mason Rudolph Championship. She boasts a 72.6 individual stroke average through six rounds in 2024-25, coming off three rounds under par – 71, 71 and 66 – in Franklin, Tennessee, a couple of weeks ago. Her 6-under-par 66 in the final round marked her career low and tied for the fourth-lowest, 18-hole round in program history.
That performance helped her land in 11th place in the elite field.
Elin Pudas Remler, a freshman from Sweeden, is not far behind Brown, boasting a 72.8 individual stroke average. She jumped out of the gate in her college debut at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in early September, leading the team to place runner-up as a lineup and third place as an individual.
Seventeen teams will compete at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational this weekend, including Vanderbilt, Michigan State, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, NC State, Western Carolina, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Florida International, East Carolina, Tennessee, Duke, Rollins College, Virginia Tech, North Carolina at Greensboro, Michigan and Louisville.
Last season at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, UK assembled a 10-over-par 874 for fifth place.
The field can expect sunny skies with temperatures in the high-60s and lower-to-mid 70s all weekend.
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.
