Karlie Campbell Paces Cats at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Wildcats’ women’s golf team continues to pull back the curtain on their depth, with the third different player in three tournaments pacing the team after round one at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
Karlie Campbell, a sophomore from Ethridge, Tennessee, is leading the team on an even-par 70, sitting T9 following the first round at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The Wildcat, who is coming off a strong spring last season, even earning Southeastern Conference Freshman Golfer of the Week honors in February, had a cluster of three bogeys and a birdie on the front nine to make the turn 2-over. She then strung together seven pars and back-to-back birdies on the back nine to come out even-par in the first round Friday.
While Campbell is coming off three straight rounds of 1-over this season, today marked her first round of par-or-better in 2025-26.
Campbell is one of just 20 players in the 81-person field to turn in a par-or-better first round Friday. She is just one stroke out of the top five and three strokes back of the individual leader – Marie Madsen of NC State.
Kentucky is in 10th place on the team leaderboard after assembling a 10-over. Its lineup, which consists of one junior and four sophomores, is seven strokes back from the top five and 15 strokes back of the team leader receiving-votes NC State, which is the only team under par thus far.
Cathryn Brown was pacing UK through the front nine, sitting at 1-under before making the turn T4. However, the back nine wrote a different story, as the junior pieced together four bogeys and five pars.
She and fellow Bluegrass native C.A. Carter recorded a 3-over in the first round and are tied for 37th place.
Carter, a sophomore out of Lexington, Kentucky, marked five bogeys and a couple birdies on her scorecard Friday. The 3-over marked her best first round this season, a promising sign for the sophomore who has improved her scores after each round in both tournaments this season.
Anastasia Hekkonen went just 4-over Friday, suffering a couple of double bogeys – one on the front nine and one on the back nine – during the first round. The sophomore, who won the Folds of Honor Collegiate just over a month ago, settled in through her final 11 holes of the Ruth’s Chris, recording nine pars, one birdie and a double through that final stretch.
With her 4-over, Hekkonen is in a tie for 45th place.
Despite finding a pair of birdies on the back nine, Raleygh Simpson turned in an 8-over in the first round Friday. The sophomore is tied for 68th place ahead of the second round Saturday.
Kentucky will tee off in the second round Saturday beginning at 9:25 a.m. ET on the 10th hole, paired with No. 2 Wake Forest and UNCW.
Big Blue Nation is encouraged to follow live scoring throughout the tournament here.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on X, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
