Kentucky men’s golf finished tied for eighth at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.

On day one, Kentucky men’s golf got back on the course for the first time since October. The Cats put together a 229 (+4) in the opening round, which placed the Cats in eighth place, at Shark’s Tooth Golf Course (par 72). 

The Wildcats started on the back nine of Shark’s Tooth course dealing with some struggles in the early round, but got their way around. The Cats altogether made nine birdies and an eagle, going 3-under pair. 

Freshman Jacob Lang had a great game for day one: he made four birdies and went 2-under of 70 in the first round of the Spring season. His work paid off to make him place sixth individually, which was his second-lowest score of his college career. He was three shots back from the individual leaders, Gray Albright and Michael Mays of Florida State, through the first round. 

Oakley Gee played as an individual this week and performed at his best for the first round of the 2024-25 season, just going 1-under par. Shooting a 71, he featured a team-best six birdies and tied for the third most of any player in the field of day one. Gee was tied for 13th place through the first day. 

Jack Schoenberger, Kentucky’s best scoring leader from the fall season, closed day one with two birdies over his final four holes to get back to even-par to put himself in a tie for 18th place. 

Senior captain Jansen Preston was placed 37th after round one with 2-over par, making two birdies on par-5s.

Michael Hake started the opening nine holes with a struggle, but made a comeback by going 1-under (35), shooting an 81 in total.

On the final day of the Watersound Invitational, Kentucky men’s golf finished the spring tournament by going 1-under par in a tie for eighth place.

The Wildcats went 5-under par on the second day, including 4-under over the final 18 holes, to close out the tournament with a total of 863 points. This marked for the first time that the Wildcats finished a tournament as a team under-par. 

Lang started back up where he left off, going 79-69 over the final two rounds to place in a tie for 12th place. In the final round of Lang’s play, he made four birdies to a single bogey, which was his highest finish of his college career. 

Schoenberger, a transfer from Belmont, was at the top of the lineup for the Wildcats. He shot a 71 on the first day and 72 on the second day, which led him to finish in 28th place. 

Preston placed 30th, going back-to-back with one under, shooting a 71. He had two eagles this tournament with a three on a par-5 in round two. 

Jacob Settles scored a 72 in both rounds to place him at a tie for 43rd place. 

Gee, an individual player, closed out his rounds with shooting a 72 and 80 and tied for 54th place in the tournament. Hake ended the tournament in 71st place, shooting a 74 and 77. 

Florida State earned the victory for the tournament, shooting 838 in total. 

The Cats’ next match up will be at the Desert Mountain Collegiate in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament will be from March 8-9. 

Final Leaderboard

12th – Jacob Lang (70-73-69) 

28th – Jack Schoenberger (72-71-72)

30th – Jansen Preston (74-71-71)

43rd- Jacob Settles (76-72-72)

54th – Oakley Gee (71-72-80)

71st – Michael Hake (81-74-77)