Kentucky women’s golf began its season on Sept. 8, hosting Akron, Eastern Kentucky, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Missouri, TCU and Washington State for the 31st iteration of the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, an event it would go on to finish second in.

The event was held at Champion Trace Course at Keene Trace Golf Club. It was the Wildcats’ first time hosting an event since fall 2019. Coming into the event, Kentucky had won two straight — and three of the last four — iterations of the tournament.

“I love the support,” UK head coach Golda Borst said. “We’ve had a lot of Kentucky people out whether it’s the volunteers or just people out watching.”

The first player for the team portion of the event for Kentucky, Cathryn Brown, teed off at 8:40 a.m. with her four teammates teeing off in ten minute increments after.

Brown finished her first round with a score of 78 (six-over-par), but her score did not count for the team total as her four teammates had slightly better days.

Freshmen Raleygh Simpson and Elin Pudas Remler both finished with scores of 77 (five-over-par) and senior Marta Lopez Echevarria posted a team low of 75 (three-over-par) on the day. 

The last of the team to tee off was freshman C.A. Carter, who is a Lexington native and posted a 76 (four-over-par).

“It was really special,” Carter, who played in her first collegiate tournament, said. “You know, just to get to see a lot of friends and family out here watching me play.”

Overall, the team scored a 305 (17-over-par) for round one, which sat the Wildcats in eighth place.

Individually, Anastasia Hekkonen, Brooke Oberparleiter and Karlie Campbell also competed in the tournament. 

Hekkonen posted a first round score of 79 (seven-over-par), Campbell posted a score of 80 (eight-over-par) and Oberparleiter finished the day one-over-par (73) and tied for seventh.

“We let some things go where I don’t think that we controlled the controllables, as cheesy as that sounds,” Borst said. “We let some things get in our head.”

The Wildcats seemed to be on top of things on day two as they jumped to fourth place in the competition.

Pudas Remler was the story of round two as she posted a score of 69 (three-under-par), which was eight strokes better than her round one score. Pudas Remler’s round included four birdies and an eagle.

Elsewhere, Lopez Echevarria finished with an even 72 on the day, Simpson and Carter posted scores of 74 (two-over-par) and 77 (five-over-par) and Brown posted a second straight 78 (six-over-par).

The final team score for day two was a 292 (four-over-par), good enough to be tied for fourth place.

The individuals all also improved or stayed the same with their scores as Oberparleiter posted another 73 (one-over-par) to finish tied for eighth, Hekkonen posted an even 72 to be tied for 25t and Campbell posted a six-over-par (78) to be tied for 51st.

Day three saw the Wildcats finish second in the team competition as Pudas Remler finished the tournament tied for third in the individual competition.

Kentucky finished 12 strokes behind first place with an 883 (19-over-par). TCU took first place with a score of 871 (seven-over-par).

Pudas Remler and Lopez Echevarria both shot 70 (two-under-par) on the day and finished in the top five of the individual competition. The duo had eight combined birdies.

Brown posted an even 72 while Carter posted her second straight 77 (five-over-par) and Simpson rounded out the team competition with a 74 (two-over-par).

The team posted a two-under-par 286 on day three to finish second in the competition.

Looking at individuals, Oberparleiter, Hekkonen and Campbell posted scores of 79 (seven-over-par), 75 (three-over-par) and 73 (one-over-par), respectively. Oberparleiter finished tied for 23rd, Hekkonen finished tied for 27th and Campbell finished tied for 40th.

The Wildcats will be back in action Friday, Sept. 20, at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tennessee, for the Mason Rudolph Championship hosted by the Vanderbilt Commodores.