Kentucky Opens Regional Play With 4-Under Par Round
BERMUDA RUN, N.C. – The Kentucky men’s golf team opened NCAA Tournament play with a 4-under par team score in round one of the Bermuda Run Regional on Monday, putting the Wildcats in seventh place after 18 holes at Bermuda Run Country Club (par 71, 7013 yards).
The Cats are just two shots off a logjam of four teams – all tied for third at 6-under par – with two rounds of golf remaining. At the end of 54 holes, the top five teams from the Bermuda Run Regional will advance to the NCAA finals, held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, May 29 – June 3.
Competing in an NCAA regional for the first time since 2022, UK had a strong showing with Cameron Phillips, Cole Stockard and Jacob Lang all posting red figures in round one. In marked the ninth round this season that Kentucky has scored under par as a team. The Cats were the only team in the 14-school field to have two eagles on day one.
Phillips, a freshman playing the first NCAA tournament round of his career, led Kentucky on day one with a 2-under par score of 69. He began his day with an eagle on his second hole of the morning, the par-4 No. 11 (378 yards), before adding four birdies to the card as the round progressed. Phillips is tied for 12th in the field of 75 players after round one.
Lang and Stockard are also inside the top 20 individually, each sitting T19 after 1-under par days.
Stockard, like Phillips, also made an eagle on Monday, his coming on No. 4 (par 5, 509 yards). The freshman bounced back well from a triple bogey on his very first hole (No. 10), registering four birdies and an eagle to get back to red figures. He played the par 5s in 4-under par in round one, tied for the best mark in the field.
Lang, a sophomore, put together a colorful card which included six birdies and five bogeys. He played his final nine holes of the day in 2-under par. Lang’s six birdies led the Cats and were tied for the fourth most in the field overall.
Senior captain Jack Schoenberger was UK’s fourth counting score at even par, putting him in a tie for 28th on the leaderboard. Schoenberger was without a bogey on his final 10 holes of the day to fight back to level for his 15th round at par-or-better this season.
Jacob Settles signed for a 1-over par 72 on Monday and is tied for 36th, meaning all five Cats find themselves in the top half of the field after the opening round.
Virginia leads the tournament at 13-under par, while the Cavaliers’ Ben James is tied for the individual lead alongside Pepperdine’s Mahanth Chirravuri at 5-under.
Kentucky will begin round two at 8:25 a.m. on Tuesday morning on hole No. 1 (par 4, 393 yards). Fans can follow along with live scoring courtesy of Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, or watch the live stream on Babygrandegolf.com.
Leaderboard:
T12: Cameron Phillips (69)
T19: Cole Stockard (70)
T19: Jacob Lang (70)
T28: Jack Schoenberger (71)
T36: Jacob Settles (72)
Bold = Counting Score
For the latest on UK Men’s Golf follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram @UKmensgolf, and online at ukathletics.com.
