By Alex Mackey

Over the summer, it looked like the UK men’s golf team was going to lose its top two golfers from the 2008-09 season to graduation.  The Cats’ luck changed when UK head coach Brian Craig received news from the NCAA that they would only be losing one.

Ben Fuqua, who was considered a senior last season, is returning to the men’s golf team for a sixth year after being granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA due to medical issues. He may have never thought he’d still be with the team now when he originally arrived on campus in 2004, but Craig is ecstatic to have him back — again.

“Getting Ben back is a huge shot in the arm for the program,” Craig said.

Fuqua, a Danville native, played in all 12 events for the Cats last season while averaging 73.47 strokes per round. That was good for second on the team behind the now-departed Andy Winings, who led the team along with Fuqua last season. Fuqua won one tournament and finished in the top 20 in three others.

To make sure that he got better over the summer as he waited to hear back from the NCAA, Fuqua hit the golf course hard, playing five or six hours a day. His teammate, senior Jordan Blann, also put in a lot of work out on the golf course and some work with a personal trainer to make sure he was prepared for the season.

Even though Craig knows it takes more than two players to be successful, he’ll be looking for Fuqua and Blann, to get the team moving in the right direction.

“I’m looking for my two seniors, Ben Fuqua and Jordan Blann to lead the team this year but it’s going to take the whole team to win,” Craig said.

After placing seventh in the Southeastern Conference championship and ninth in the NCAA Regional last year the Cats have bigger aspirations. The  team wants to win an SEC championship, but Fuqua has some big aspirations for himself personally.

“As an individual I want to compete in all 13 events and place in at least the top 20 and hopefully two or three wins,” Fuqua said.

The team’s biggest challenge this season might not even be another team. Craig said the hardest part of this season might be choosing the five starters.  He thinks he has at least eight golfers on the team that have the ability to start for the Cats.

Craig said that he thinks that most of his team has potential to play professionally, but it wasn’t long before his thoughts came back to his two seniors — Fuqua and Blann — as the most likely to accomplish the feat.

“Without a doubt the two seniors, Blann and Fuqua, have a very realistic shot at playing golf for a living,” Craig said. “They’ll need to improve and set out a plan but they could make it.”