On its own course in front of family, friends and fans, the Kentucky women’s golf team was hopeful and confident it could get off to a strong start at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, its annual home tournament.
But did the Wildcats actually expect a round like Friday’s, what ended up as the second-best round in school history and propelled the Wildcats well in front of the field after the first round?
Well, yes.
“I knew there was going to come a day where it was all going to be working for us,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “To be very honest with you, yes, (I did expect this). This group works incredibly hard and it’s been in them. Casey (Ott) just reminded me that I said that to them last week. I was like, I just know there are low rounds in them. They just have to give themselves permission to go low and to, when they’re 2- or 3-under, keep making birdies. To put themselves in that position was just great to see.”
Behind one of the most complete team rounds in Kentucky women’s golf history, the Wildcats fired a 280 Friday to storm in front of the 12-team field. The 280 was three strokes off the 277 the Wildcats shot in the fall of 2016 in the third round of Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate.
With five UK players in the top 10, including sophomore Rikke Svejgård Nielsen (first), junior Sarah Shipley (second), senior Leonie Bettel (tied for fifth), Ott (tied for seventh) and senior Claire Carlin (tied for seventh; individual only), Kentucky has a commanding – although certainly not insurmountable – 11-shot lead with 36 holes to go.
The next round of 18 will start on Saturday at 9 a.m. at the University Club of Kentucky, (par 72, 5,947 yards) in Lexington. Live scoring will continue to be available at GolfStat.com, but fans are encouraged to attend with free admission. After a beautiful Friday, temperatures are once again expected to be in the mid-80s with mixes of clouds and sun and only a slight chance of rain.
With the way her team played Friday, Borst would love to see the Big Blue Nation in person Saturday and Sunday to help UK to its first tournament title since 2013 (“MO”Morial Invitational in September 2013) and its first Bettie Lou team championship since 2011.
“They made my heart happy today,” Borst said. “They were prepared. They were focused. They were disciplined. All the things we’ve asked them to do, all the things that they can control, they did today. They put themselves in a good position.”
A collective effort will be needed to capture the title, but Borst should feel confident after a spectacular showing from top to bottom.
Svejgård Nielsen leads the field at 4-under par. Shipley is just behind at 3-under and in second place. Bettel is tied for fifth at 1-under par, and both Ott and Carlin are tied for seventh at even par.
Svejgård Nielsen’s round was the best of her career, while Ott and Shipley recorded the second-best scores of their careers.
Yeah, it was that kind of day for the Wildcats. And it could have been even better.
At one-point UK was a staggering 17-under par, but the wind picked up on the more difficult back nine and stopped the Wildcats from carding the best round in school history. While Borst would have loved to have made history, the last few holes are great motivation for her team heading into the second round.
“The number we could have shot was 17-under, so 271,” Borst said. “And so, 280 is a great number – it’s our second-lowest round ever, which is phenomenal and I’m extremely happy with that; it’s a great start – but boy are we capable of more and boy do we have more in the tank. That’s exciting. That’s what we want. We’re getting competitive and they’re playing hard for Kentucky. I love that and so proud of what they’re putting into this.”
Leading up to the tournament, Borst had talked about how competitive practices had been, and it showed from the start Friday. Three different players had stretches of three straight birdies on the front nine, beginning with Svejgård Nielsen on the opening three holes.
The sophomore from Denmark got off to an incredible start and was as low as 7-under par through 14 holes. She said it was the lowest she had ever been in her young career – an incredible number considering it was the first time she’s played for the team score.
“I was kind of tense during qualifying because I really, really, really wanted to make the team,” Svejgård Nielsen said. “When I did that, I kind of felt loosened up because I knew that I was on the team and I was just going to go out there and do good. It was awesome.”
Svejgård Nielsen is relatively new to the golf scene, having just picked up the game in 2012, but she showed Friday why the coaching staff is so excited about her future. After winning the MSU Greenbrier Invitational in September in her first collegiate tournament, she fired her third round in red numbers in just four opportunities.
Shipley had a similar day going. She opened with six straight pars before she caught fire near the end of the front nine. She birdied the last three holes heading into the turn and got as low as 5-under par through 13 holes.
She had her sights set on her career low of 68 but finished just one shot shy of that after two late bogeys.
“The whole front nine I was putting the ball in the right positions,” Shipley said. “I had 15- to 20-footers, some closer that just didn’t drop for birdie, but I stayed calm and patient and luckily I just got closer on the last three of the front nine and I just made them, so that’s always nice. It doesn’t always go that way.”
If there’s one thing that the rest of the field should be worried about, it’s that Bettel, who is coming off a championship at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, is tied for fifth at 1-under par and didn’t even play her best golf.
Behind her is Ott and Carlin in a tie for seventh. Ott pulled off the shot of the day on No. 7 when she holed a shot from 73 yards out for an eagle. She shot an even-par 72 for the second round of par or better in her young college career.
Carlin was at one point tied for the lead after a 5-under 31 on the front nine. The wind got the best of her on the back nine, but her 72 was her best score of the season.
Junior Josephine Chang was in red numbers at the turn but had a difficult back nine and is tied for 41st at 5-over par.
Sophomore Sarah Fite and freshman Ryan Bender are both playing as individuals and are tied for 20th (2-over par) and 41st (5-over par), respectively.
The Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, which is being played at the U-Club’s Big Blue Course, is in its 29th year of play and named after longtime UK head coach (1979 to 2001) and former director of operations (2002 to 2018) Bettie Lou Evans, the tournament is being played for the second straight year after a five-season hiatus.
UK has won the tournament 11 times, the last of which was in 2011, but Grace Rose shared individual medalist honors last season as a senior. Previously known as the Wildcat Fall Invitational before dedicating it to Evans, the tournament has been in existence since 1979. It was played every year until a four-year break from 1998 to 2001. There were also one-year breaks in 2007 and 2010 before a gap from 2012 to 2016.
This year’s field features Akron, Columbia, Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee State, Indianapolis, 2006 champion Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, defending champion Notre Dame, Penn State, Toledo, Western Kentucky and, of course, UK.
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.
Eric Lindsey
Director of Athletics Communications and Public Relations
Men’s Basketball and Women’s Golf