Wildcats One Shot Off Lead at the Paradise Invitational, 18 Holes To Go
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Wildcats’ women’s golf team is just one shot off the lead at the Paradise Invitational with one round to go.
The team came into the second round leading by one stroke on Tuesday, and despite improving its score from the first round to the second round, Kentucky (-4) is one shot behind leader Tennessee (-5).
UK and UT are the lone two teams under par of the 16 teams competing at the Osprey Point Golf Course (par 72, 6,204 yards) in Boca Raton, Florida, this week.
Kentucky is seven shots in front of Georgia (+3) in third place.
UK, UT and UGA will be paired together again tomorrow for the final round. The conference foes will tee off hole No. 1 beginning at 9:15 a.m. ET.
Two Kentucky players turned in bogey-free second rounds on Tuesday, including Karlie Campbell and Cathryn Brown.
Campbell climbed almost twodozen spots on the individual leaderboard after pairing her first-round 75 with a second-round 67. The 5-under-par 67 is a career best by two shots for the sophomore, who went from T28 after Monday to T6 after Tuesday. She got out to a strong start with a birdie on the first hole before writing in two more birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine.
Brown has been steady eddy the past two days. The Eddyville, Kentucky, native has logged a pair of 2-unders Monday and Tuesday but it was today’s scorecard that featured 16 pars and two birdies. Her birdies came on the par-5 No. 5 and the par-5 No. 12, both holes that she birdies for the first time this week.
The junior remains tied for third place, three shots behind first place and just one shot behind second place.
She has contributed to the team total 17 straight rounds, a stretch that dates back to last season.
Anastasia Hekkonen, who like Brown entered the day tied for third place, went even-par in the second round to form a 2-under tournament total for a share of sixth place.
She got off to a bumpy start with pair of bogeys through her first four holes. However, the young but experienced golfer used the next 11 holes to record three birdies and eight pars to find herself right back under par for the tournament.
C.A. Carter picked up where she left off yesterday, plugging in two birdies through her first five holes. She hit a rough patch in the middle of her round, going 6-over through hole No. 7 through hole No. 15, but she signed off with a birdie on the par-5 No. 18 to settle into a 3-over-par 75 on Tuesday.
Her 4-over through 36 holes has her in a share of 28th place.
Raleygh Simpson really turned her scorecard around in the second round. The sophomore from Kerrville, Texas, had an 8-over Monday and paired that with a 3-over Tuesday. Nothing phased her on the front nine, turning in one par after the next from hole No. 1 through hole No. 10. On the back nine, she suffered a double and three bogeys, but also found success with two birdies, including the par-5 No. 18.
She is in a share of 73rd place out of the 90 participants.
Competing as an individual in her first tournament as a Wildcat, Samantha Paradise assembled a 6-over-par 77 on Tuesday. She moved to 6-over for the event thus far, sitting tied for 45th place.
Fans are encouraged to follow along with live scoring for the final round here: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239602/scoring/team.
Scorecard
T3 Cathryn Brown 70, 70 … 140 (-2)
T6 Karlie Campbell 75, 67 … 142 (-2)
T6 Anastasia Hekkonen 70, 72 … 142 (-2)
T28 C.A. Carter 73, 75 … 148 (+4)
T45 Samantha Paradise 72, 78 … 150 (+6) (ind)
T73 Raleygh Simpson 80, 75 … 155 (+11)
2 KENTUCKY 288, 284 … 572 (-4)
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.
