Wildcats Go 7-Under in Round Two, In Seventh at Steelwood
LOXLEY, Ala. – During a 36-hole day one at the Steelwood Collegiate, Kentucky men’s golf heated up in the afternoon to post a season-best 281 (-7) in round two and move into seventh place upon the conclusion of play Saturday at Steelwood Country Club (par 72, 7,096 yards).
The Wildcats were 1-under on the day overall and will enter tomorrow’s final round as one of seven teams in red figures. Illinois, the No. 12 ranked team in the country, leads the 14-team field at 17-under par.
A season best four Wildcats carded rounds below par in the second round, helping UK overcome a bogey-laden opening round and rise from 13th all the way into seventh.
Jacob Lang (68), Michael Hake (69) and Jacob Settles (70), all registered new career bests with their round two performances, while senior captain Jansen Preston (70) joined them under par.
Preston leads all Kentucky players tied for 17th at 2-under. The Lexington native made 10 birdies on the day to pace the Cats, including six during his second round and three in-a-row on holes No. 10-12. He was the only Wildcat player to finish at par-or-better in each of his two rounds, giving him six rounds of par-or-better on the season, a team-best total. His second round 70 was his lowest 18-hole score this season in 14 total rounds.
Making the second start of his collegiate career and his first in the Kentucky starting lineup, Settles opened with a 74 (+2) but crawled back to even-par overall with a career-low 70 in the afternoon. The freshman made two birdies and an eagle in round one, while also suffering six bogeys. He cleaned those up on his second loop around Steelwood, making just a single bogey in round two along with three birdies. The native of Winchester, Ky. was a counting score in both rounds on day one and sits tied for 26th.
Lang, a fellow freshman, bounced back from a first round 78 (+6) with a 4-under par 68. It was Kentucky’s lowest round of the day and second lowest this fall, while also marking a new career-low for Lang by four shots. The Alvaton, Ky. native had five circles on his second-round card and just a single bogey. He is tied for 38th at 2-over par.
Also tied for 38th is Jack Schoenberger, who was the most consistent player of the day for the Wildcats, signing for back-to-back 73s. The junior transfer made six birdies on the day, including two on No. 18 (par 5, 535 yards).
Redshirt sophomore Solomon Petrie finished the day at 9-over par and in 76th. He was a counting score for UK in round one, where he fired a 75 (+3) that was highlighted by consecutive birdies on No. 17 (par 3, 211 yards) and No 18 (par 5, 535 yards).
Hake, a native of Brentwood, Tenn., is competing as an individual this week and finds himself tied for 47th with one round remaining. A quadruple-bogey on No. 13 (par 4, 488 yards), derailed Hake’s first round, but he rebounded in a big way by carding a new career-low score in round two. Beginning on No. 16 (par 4, 359 yards), Hake birdied his opening hole and made eagle shortly thereafter on No. 18 (par 5, 535 yards). Two more birdies on Steelwood’s front side, and another on No. 10 (par 5, 542 yards), got Hake to the clubhouse with a 3-under par 69. The round betters the sophomore’s previous career-low of 71, set last fall at the Folds of Honor Collegiate.
Kentucky will be grouped with Troy and Louisiana Tech for the final round of its fall season tomorrow at Steelwood Country Club. Play begins at 8:45 a.m. ET with live scoring available on scoreboard.clippd.com.
Leaderboard
T17: Jansen Preston (72-70)
T26: Jacob Settles (74-70)
T38: Jacob Lang (78-68)
T38: Jack Schoenberger (73-73)
T47: Michael Hake* (78-69)
76: Solomon Petrie (75-78)
Bold = Counting score
*Individual
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