Kentucky womens golf finish as high as seventh in Lady Bulldog Invitational

Cole Parke

Kentucky womens golf finished as high as seventh in the Lady Bulldog Invitational individual tournament.

The event, held over two days from Jan. 30-31, was the first individual only competition for Kentucky this season, with the rest being team events.

Redshirt junior Ryan Bender had the best finish for the Wildcats, tying for seventh place with a final score of 149, or 5-over-par.

Bender shot even-par in the first round, finishing the course in 72 shots, but struggled in the second round finishing in 77 shots to finish 5-over-par.

The next highest placement of the event for Kentucky was fifth-year senior Sarah Fite, who tied for 20th, shooting a combined 155 or 11-over-par.

Fite finished the first round in 78 shots, entering the second day 6-over-par. She would perform one shot better on round two for a 5-over-par day.

Taking third for Kentucky, freshman Marta Lopez Echevarria tied for 22nd, shooting 156 or 12-over-par.

Echevarria finished both rounds in 78 shots, consistently 6-over-par, and just one shot worse than Fite.

Kentucky also fielded senior Casey Ott, who shot 91, or 19-over-par, in the first round before withdrawing from the competition for the second round. Her final score was not calculated with only one round played.

While the overall event was won by Auburn’s Kaleigh Telfer, the Cats did well in several of the secondary scoring metrics.

Bender tied for first place in par three performances, finishing just 1-over-par on par three-holes. Echevarria, while technically tying for seventh, finished 2-over-par on par-threes, another strong showing.

Bender showed out in particular on the par-fives, finishing three-under-par on long holes. She finished third on long holes, just behind Telfer and Georgia’s Caterina Don.

The struggles for Kentucky came on par-fours, with the best finish by any Wildcat coming from Echevarria and Fite, who finished 5-over-par on the mid-range holes. The performance was enough to tie both at 14th.

Though overall the event was disappointing for Kentucky, it’s currently listed as the only individuals only tournament on their schedule.

Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 6, for the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Florida. The event is scheduled to take place over three days, wrapping up on Tuesday, Feb. 8.