Two Wildcats Even-Par in First Round at SEC Championship

TAMPA – Two Wildcats are sitting in the top 20 at the Southeastern Conference Championship following the first round at The Pelican Golf Club (par 70, 6,254 yards) in Tampa, Florida, on Monday. Meanwhile, the University of Kentucky women’s golf team went just 6-over as a lineup, sitting in a tie for 10th place ahead of the second round Tuesday.

Competing in her second straight SEC Championship, Cathryn Brown picked up where she left off a season ago at the Pelican.

Brown, a sophomore from Eddyville, Kentucky, rolled in three birdies and three bogeys to assemble an even-par 70 on Monday, earning a tie for 20th place. In fact, she was 1-under through 17 holes, until a bogey on the par-3 No. 9, her final hole of the first round.

Joining her at even-par and T20 on the individual leaderboard is Karlie Campbell.

Just a freshman playing in her seventh tournament but her first conference championship, Campbell led the lineup with four birdies Monday. All of her birdies were recorded on par-4s, including Nos. 1, 6, 11 and 16. She tacked on four bogeys to get out of the round on par, marking her fifth round of par-or-better this season.

Brown and Campbell are just five shots off three players tied at the top of the individual leaderboard (-5), including Anna Davis of Auburn and Eila Galitsky and Hannah Darling of South Carolina.

Marta López Echevarría is third in the lineup after a 2-over performance in the first round. She spent most of the day pacing the Wildcats, even finding herself at 2-under through 10 holes after an eagle on the par-4 No. 1.  However, she suffered a pair of bogeys and a double on the par-5 No. 7 in the final five holes of the first round Monday. López Echevarría is still in good position at T38 ahead of the second round Tuesday.

Anastasia Hekkonen, a freshman also playing in her first conference championship, went 4-over in the first round, sandwiching in a birdie after the turn on the par-4 No. 1. She is currently tied for 57th place, while Brooke Oberparlieter, a sophomore also playing in her first SEC Championship, went 5-over for T62 on Monday.

The Wildcats are tied with the Crimson Tied for 10th place, just three strokes out of contention of the current cutline (+3). They’ll tee off in the second round Tuesday beginning at 9:40 a.m. ET off the first tee, paired with Alabama and Arkansas.

Just 36 holes of stroke play remain for the field, 18 on Tuesday and 18 on Wednesday, before the top eight teams advance to the match-play quarterfinals Thursday.

Scorecard
T20 Cathryn Brown 70 (E)
T20 Karlie Campbell 70 (E)
T38 Marta López Echevarría 72 (+2)
T57 Anastasia Hekkonen 74 (+4)
T62 Brooke Oberparleiter 75 (+5)

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.