Led by a 2-under round from freshman Cullan Brown the Kentucky men’s golf team concluded the opening day of the Schenkel Invitational in fifth place at 1-over par. Kentucky has garnered a top-five finish in each of its previous four appearances in the event.
“A decent start today for our boys and a nice start by Cullan Brown,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “The scores were a little higher in general today than I thought they would be, but the wind was up and the hole locations were difficult. We could use a good round tomorrow and I believe our boys are in a good position to do so.”
Brown was sensational to begin the three-day event at the Forest Heights Golf Club in Statesboro, Georgia despite a slow start. The Eddyville, Kentucky native opened play by bogeying the second and third holes. However, it was red numbers and steady play from there.
A birdie on the par-four fifth ignited his round. He then induced an eagle at the par-five seventh to pick up a stroke on the front nine. He generated eight consecutive pars before logging a birdie at the par-four 16th. He finished the day with back-to-back pars for the 2-under, 70. He’s tied for sixth heading into Saturday’s second round.
The Wildcats shot a 1-over 289 on day one. College of Charleston and Mississippi State are the clubhouse leaders at 5-under par. East Tennessee State shot 3-under and Notre Dame is at even par. Kentucky at 1-over par rounds out the top five.
The Forest Heights Golf Club is playing at a par 72 over 6,947 yards this week. Saturday’s round is set to begin at 9 a.m. ET and Sunday’s final round will return to Friday’s 8:30 a.m. start time. Live scoring will be available via golfstat.com.
Senior Fred Allen Meyer continued his steady play over the last week with an even-par 72. He’s tied for 15th following the opening 18 holes. Meyer’s round featured two birdies over his final seven holes, including capping the round with a birdie at the par-five 18th. Meyer is seeking his second consecutive top-10 finish after tying for 10th at the General Hackler Championship earlier this week. He’s one stroke off a top-10 showing.
Classmate Max Mehles fired a 1-over 73 and is tied for 25th. Mehles birdied his opening two holes and got off to a hot start with a 2-under front nine. He salvaged a tough back nine with a birdie at the par-four 16th before rounding out the day with consecutive pars. Fellow senior Lukas Euler carded a round of 74. He had back-to-back-to-back birdies at the seventh, eighth and ninth and picked up one more stroke at the 18th to head into Saturday’s round with momentum. Euler finished the opening day tied for 33rd.
Junior Matt Liston rounded out the starting lineup with a 76. He was the third different Wildcat to generate a birdie on the final hole of the day. Liston is tied for 55th.
Redshirt freshman Zach Norris is playing as an individual this week and turned in a solid round with a three-over scorecard. He is tied for 44th.
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 (deb.moore@uky.edu) or Cole Bollinger (cole.bollinger@uky.edu)
