Wildcats Complete Desert Mountain Collegiate Tied for Ninth

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Desert Mountain Collegiate came to a close on Sunday with Kentucky men’s golf finishing the tournament tied for ninth out of 17 teams with a cumulative score of 883 (+19) at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course (par 72, 7,107 yards).

The last day of competition saw teams complete their unfinished second rounds, before the final round was played in the afternoon.

Kentucky began the day in tenth place at 8-over par with about 27 holes remaining in the tournament. By the end of the second round, UK had moved into a tie for eighth with a team score of 13-over. The Wildcats continued to climb the leaderboard during the middle portion of round three but ultimately faltered slightly down the stretch to slip into a tie for ninth with VCU and Eastern Michigan.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the way we played this week,” head coach Gator Todd said. “We didn’t do things up to our standards and we have to learn how to handle adversity better. I do think this was a great learning experience playing a different kind of golf for all our guys.”

All six Kentucky players who teed it up in Scottsdale finished the weekend in the top half of the 96-player field, the first time this season all UK players have beaten at least half the field.

Jack Schoenberger led the Cats by picking up his first top 10 result of the season, tying for eighth at two-under par. The junior closed with rounds of 71 and 72 to secure the top 10 finish, the 10th of his college career and the second by a Wildcat this season. His third and final round featured six birdies including a stretch of four consecutive on hole Nos. 8-11. The native of Alpharetta, Ga. tied for the second most birdies of any player in the tournament with 17, behind only Matthew Diehl of Grand Canyon, the individual medalist.

“Super proud of Jack, he was so mentally strong this week and carried our team,” Todd said. “I love the steps he’s taking.”

Schoenberger has now finished at par-or-better in all six of his rounds this spring after posting just two total rounds of par-or-better during the fall portion of the season.

Jacob Settles, who opened the tournament with a career-best round of 69 yesterday, ended the weekend as Kentucky’s second-best finisher in a tie for 40th at 8-over par. Fellow freshman Jacob Lang followed right behind at 9-over and in a tie for 42nd, while Oakley Gee, Jansen Preston and Michael Hake (individual) all tied for 46th at 10-over par.

Schoenberger, Lang and Gee were counting scores in all three rounds for UK. Mississippi State won the event, going 11-under par as a team.

Kentucky will return to action March 21-23 for the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia.

Leaderboard
T8: Jack Schoenberger (71-71-72)
T40: Jacob Settles (69-79-76)
T42: Jacob Lang (76–76–73)
T46: Oakley Gee (76–75–75)
T46: Jansen Preston (72-80-74)
T46: Michael Hake* (71-79-76)
Bold = Counting score
*Individual

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