Three Wildcats Below Par, UK in Third at Schenkel Invitational
STATESBORO, Ga. – Kentucky men’s golf began the 2025 Schenkel Invitational with a 3-under par round of 285 to stand alone in third place at Forest Heights Country Club (par 72, 7,123 yards) after 18 holes. Freshman Jacob Lang is tied for third individually at 3-under par, while Jack Schoenberger and Gavin Clutts each turned in 1-under par 71s to sit T14 after Friday.
UK’s starters combined to make 19 birdies, the second most in the field, and one eagle. Kentucky was 9-under par on the par 5s, the best in the 14-team field. Host institution Georgia Southern is the leader after the first day at 10-under par. They are followed by the Florida Gators at 9-under and Kentucky at 3-under.
Lang did most of his damage on the front nine, going out in 4-under par after birdies on No. 2, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 7. After three bogeys on the back nine, Lang ended his day with two-consecutive birdies on No. 17 and No. 18 to finish his day at 3-under par. It was the freshman’s fifth round of par-or-better this season and his third of the spring. His six birdies were tied for the second most in the field.
Clutts, a fellow freshman, posted the best score of his young college career, firing 1-under par 71. Clutts made four birdies, including three on par 5s, to find himself inside the top 15 among the 84 players in the field. It was the first round of par-or-better for the Hazard, Kentucky, native as a Wildcat.
Schoenberger continued his par-or-better streak with a seventh-consecutive round at or below par on Friday. The junior was 2-over through his first five holes but fought back to card 71.
Senior captain Jansen Preston and freshman Jacob Settles tied for the final counting score of the day with matching 2-over par rounds of 74. Preston’s day was highlighted by an eagle on No. 9 (par 5, 526 yards), while Settles made three birdies.
Solomon Petrie, an individual competitor for the Cats this week, finished at even par on Friday and in a tie for 23rd. After starting 3-over through his first seven holes, Petrie turned things around and got back to even par for the day by making an eagle on his final hole (No. 9), a 526-yard par 5. Petrie was 4-under on Forest Height’s four par 5s, tied for the best mark in the field.
Round two of the Schenkel Invitational will take place on Saturday. Kentucky will once again be off hole No. 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:06 a.m., this time paired with Georgia Southern and Florida. Live scoring can be found at golfstat.com.
Leaderboard
T3: Jacob Lang (69)
T14: Gavin Clutts (71)
T14: Jack Schoenberger (71)
T23: Solomon Petrie* (72)
T40: Jansen Preston (74)
T40: Jacob Settles (74)
Bold = Counting score
*Individual
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