Having led the Kentucky men’s golf team to its first appearance in match play at the Southeastern Conference Championship and advanced to four straight NCAA Regionals, head coach Brian Craig has put together another stellar schedule for the 2019-20 season with a mix of new courses and familiar tournaments alike.
“I absolutely love this schedule for our team,” Craig said. “This is the first time we have played over Labor Day weekend and it will be a spectacular trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We also get to play two full starting lineups which results in tons of experience for the guys. We also play the world-renowned Crooked Stick later in the fall which is a major championship venue.
“The spring starts with a training trip to Scottsdale, Arizona and then a trip to Puerto Rico for a new event that should be terrific. As always, we play the SEC Championship on the Seaside Course on St. Simons Island, Georgia. It is hands-down the best conference championship in all of Division I golf. The guys have been working hard all summer and we can’t wait to get started.”
The 2019-20 schedule features four events during the fall and five regular-season tournaments during the spring months. Postseason action begins at the SEC Championship in April. The NCAA Regional events are set for May 18-20, 2020 with play beginning at the NCAA Championship on May 29.
Details regarding each course and event are below:
Island Resort Collegiate Invitational | Sage Run (Island Resort) | Sept. 1-2
Sage Run is a new 18-hole course in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Paul Albanese, ASGCA of Albanese and Lutzke Golf Couse Design, designed it. Sage Run features a large drumlin, which is a long, sloping ridge. It runs throughout the course in different directions, challenging players to interact and move along the course with it. Each hole has a unique character and feel. The course takes golfers through pine scrub, open and partially wooded areas.
The Island Resort Collegiate Invitational will mark the first signature tournament for this newly-constructed course. The event will consist of a two-day, 54-hole stroke-play invitational and will feature a field of 10 teams competing at the 7,309-yard course hosted by South Dakota State.
Bearcat Invitational | Coldstream Country Club | Sept. 30-Oct. 1
The Coldstream Country Club course is modeled on Scotland’s Village of Coldstream. It’s a par-71 course measuring 7,081 yards from the longest tees. The Dick Wilson-designed course first opened in 1959.
The Wildcats will return to the Bearcat Invitational, hosted by Cincinnati, after it was canceled a year ago due to weather. Craig’s squad captured the team championship in 2017 and has made three appearances in the event since 2011. Senior Matt Liston was a part of the 2017 starting lineup which won the tournament. He placed in a tie for 32nd and had a final round of 3-under par to cap the tournament in style.
Crooked Stick Collegiate | Crooked Stick Golf Club | Oct. 14-15
Built in 1964 by Pete and Alice Dye, Crooked Stick was host to the PGA Championship in 1991 and the US Women’s Open in 1993. The 18-hole course plays at 7,516 and a par 72 from all tee boxes. Conceived following an extended tour of British courses, the Dyes rejected conventional golf holes in favor of radical ones. Using bulkheads of vertical telephone poles to create abrupt change and long expanse of sand to emulate dunes, they opened the back nine first with Mackenzie-style boomerang greens. The front nine came two years later with lines and angles appropriated from Donald Ross. Crooked Stick was the first Dye course to host a major championship.
The Wildcats will make their third appearance in the event since 2015. In a run of three straight tournament victories to begin the 2017-18 season, UK won the event in its last appearance in 2017. Junior Jacob Cook was among the starters in that victory and finished in a tie for 34th.
Steelwood Collegiate Invitational| Steelwood Country Club | Oct. 26-27
The course, designed by former U.S. Open Champion Jerry Pate, is rated by GolfDigest as one of the best courses in Alabama. The vistas are spectacular, especially the six holes bordering the lake. The course opened in 1997 and features 7,096 yards. The course rating is 74.0 and it has a slope rating of 144 on Bermuda grass.
Kentucky will appear in the event for the third time since 2016. UK placed fourth in 2017 and was the tournament’s runner up in 2016. Liston and Cook have both played the course during the 2017 appearance. Liston tied for 36th as a member of the starting five, while Cook hauled in a tie for 23rd playing as an individual.
TPC Dorado Beach Collegiate | TPC Sugarcane | Feb. 23-25
UNC Greensboro will host the 54-hole tournament at TPC Dorado beach-Sugarcane Course for the first time in 2020.
The Sugarcane Course is the most challenging of the two Plantation courses at the Caribbean golf resort. Despite boasting larger fairways and greens, the course features more forced carries and deeper bunkers. The back nine is surrounded by newly created rivers and lakes and offers a much different look.
Kentucky will make its first-ever appearance in this event to begin action during it’s spring schedule.
Schenkel Invitational | Forest Heights Country Club | March 13-15
Kentucky will be among the field at the Schenkel Invitational for the 15th-consecutive season. The Wildcats have finished among the top five in each of the last five seasons. Sophomore Cullan Brown, Liston and sophomore Zach Norris were among the field a season ago as UK finished fifth overall. Brown tied for 16th, while Liston tied for 24th and Norris finished in a tie for 52nd as an individual.
Forest Heights is recognized as one of the finest in the Southeast. The course measures out to 6,962 yards from the championship tees. Although the tee shots are relatively forgiving, the players face their biggest challenges when they reach the undulating greens. The greens feature subtle breaks that make it difficult to read and making scoring low a tough task.
Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate | Bulls Bay Golf Club | March 22-24
This 7,220-yard course, just minutes from Charleston, is stimulating and offers two par fives that are more than 600 yards long. This tournament annually features some of the best collegiate programs in the nation. It lies along the tidal salt marshes to the north of Charleston and is known for its bold and somewhat idiosyncratic style. Taking into account the ever-changing coastal wind conditions, fairways are wide and green sites generously proportioned to offer the players a wide variety of approach play.
Kentucky will be making its 17th straight appearance in the event in 2020. Brown and Liston both scored top-50 finishes a season ago as UK finished eighth.
Mason Rudolph Championship | Vanderbilt Legends Club | April 3-5
Since opening in 1992, the Vanderbilt Legends Club has received national recognition. The par 72 North Course, stretching 7,190 yards from the championship tees, was designed by Hall of Fame golfer Tom Kite and architect Bob Cupp. The greens are well undulated with multiple hole locations and the bunkers are large and boldly shaped. The course path provides an inspired variety of holes through lush fields and around lakes and streams.
Kentucky appeared in the event a season ago when it was played at the Mason Rudolph course. UK finished in a tie for fourth. Brown tied for fifth and produced a 7-under par score for the tournament.
Shoal Creek Invitational | Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club | April 13-14
UK will close out the regular season for the second straight year at the Shoal Creek Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama, April 13-14. Designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus in 1975, Shoal Creek – at 7,400 yards, par 72 – recently hosted the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open in addition to the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championships. It is rated as one of the top courses in the state and is considered one of the country’s best.
Craig’s squad placed fourth in the event in 2019 with Brown, Liston, junior Allen Hamilton, Cook and Norris all seeing action. Brown earned a top-20 finish, while Hamilton and Cook both scored top-40 individual finishes.
SEC Championship | Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club | April 22-26
The Seaside Course at the stellar Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia, will host the Southeastern Conference Championship for the 20th time April 22-26. Since 1927, the Sea Island Golf Club has enjoyed a legacy as one of America’s premier golf clubs. Rated No. 1 in the U.S. among the “World’s 50 Best Golf Resorts” by Golf Digest, Sea Island offers three exceptional 18-hole championship courses. The Seaside Course, updated by Tom Fazio in 1999 and home to the PGA Tour’s McGladrey Classic, is a links course graced by majestic ocean vistas in the tradition of St. Andrews. Sea Island is also the only resort in the world to receive four Forbes Five-Stars nine years in a row.
UK tied for third during the stroke play portion of the SEC Championship and advanced all the way to the match play semifinals. It marked the first time since the inception of match play to determine a league champion that UK advanced to Saturday’s action. Kentucky defeated Tennessee by a 4-1-0 margin before falling to Auburn, 3-2-0, for a chance at a crown. Brown and Liston were instrumental in helping the Wildcats to their best showing a season ago. Brown tied for ninth during stroke play and defeated his opponent in match play against the Volunteers. Liston earned UK’s first point against Auburn in the semifinals.
NCAA Regional | TBD | May 18-20
Kentucky has advanced to the NCAA Regional in four consecutive seasons, which is the longest stretch of appearances in since the team also went four straight years from 2003-06.
The six sites for the 2020 NCAA Regional rounds are: Auburn, San Diego, LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma and Michigan State.
NCAA Championship | Grayhawk Golf Club| May 29-June 3
The 2020 NCAA Championships will be held from May 29-June3 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Tom Fazio-designed Raptor course offers thrilling challenges that commands a player’s respect through a high-stakes game of risk and reward. Stretching 7,090 yards from the back tees, the par-72 course unfolds over the gentle hills and across shaded natural arroyos found in the Sonoran Desert. Most of Raptor’s fairways are generous and the greens are large with sweeping undulations. Misses tend to find deep greenside bunkers and tightly mown grass collection areas, making the scramble to get up and down a true test of the short game.
It is listed among the best public golf courses by Golfweek and Golf Magazine. It is one of only two Scottsdale golf courses to hose a PGA Tour event – the Frys.com Open 2007-09.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
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For more information contact:
Deb Moore