PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – On a 36-hole final day at the Watersound Invitational, Kentucky men’s golf turned in two quality rounds at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club (par 72, 7246 yards) to finish the opening tournament of the spring season at 1-under par and in a tie for eighth place.

The Wildcats went 5-under on Tuesday overall, including 4-under over the final 18 holes, to eventually close with a tournament team total of 863 (-1). It marked the first time this season that UK has finished a tournament under-par as a team and was also the squad’s lowest stroke total on the 2024-25 campaign.

“I’m really proud of our guys this week,” head coach Gator Todd said. “This is an elite field and we got to see where we stack up. We’re continuing to do the little things better and I like the direction this team is headed. I’m confident this week will be a building block for us down the road.”

Freshman Jacob Lang picked up where he left off a day ago, going 73-69 over the final two rounds to place in a tie for 12th. Lang’s final round included four birdies to just a single bogey and helped propel him to the highest finish of his collegiate career. He was among the field’s best in scoring average on both par-3s (2.92) and par-4s (3.90), ranking tied for third in both categories among the 77-player field.

“I’m proud of Jacob Lang for an outstanding week,” Todd said. “He beat a lot of world class players and his confidence is growing each week.”

Jack Schoenberger, a junior transfer from Belmont, was a steady presence at the top of the lineup for the Wildcats. Schoenberger followed his even-par showing on Monday with rounds of 71 (-1) and 72 (E) on Tuesday, resulting in a T28 finish for the native of Alpharetta, Georgia.

Captain Jansen Preston turned in back-to-back 1-under rounds of 71 to rise up the leaderboard into a tie for 30th. The Lexington, Kentucky local now has a team-best nine rounds of par-or-better this season. The senior also registered Kentucky’s second eagle of the tournament with a three on the par-5 sixth hole (526 yards) in round two.

“Jack and Jansen are continuing to be steady anchors for us,” Todd said. “I could not be more proud of those two and their leadership on this team.”

Contributing from the fifth spot in the lineup, Jacob Settles carded scores of 72 in both rounds two and three, jumping 11 spots on the leaderboard across the final 36 holes to tie for 43rd.

“Jacob Settles showed a lot of mental toughness and resilience,” Todd said. “He grinded out some rounds for us without his best stuff.”

An individual competitor this week, Oakley Gee closed with rounds of 72-80 and tied for 54th at 7-over for the tournament. He matched his teammate Lang with 10 birdies on the week to lead the Cats.  Sophomore Michael Hake ended the event in 71st after signing for 74-77 on Tuesday.

Host Florida State earned the tournament victory with a 54-hole total of 838 (-26), while the Seminoles’ Luke Clanton was the individual medalist at 10-under par. The Watersound Invitational featured an elite field which included six teams ranked in the top 25 and eight in the top 50, according to Scoreboard Powered by Clippd.

The Cats will next tee it up at the Desert Mountain Collegiate in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament will be contested at Desert Mountain Golf Club from March 8-9.

Leaderboard
T12: Jacob Lang (70-73-69)
T28: Jack Schoenberger (72-71-72)
T30: Jansen Preston (74-71-71)
T43: Jacob Settles (76-72-72)
T54: Oakley Gee* (71-72-80)
71: Michael Hake (81-74-77)

Bold = Counting score
*Individual

For the latest on UK Men’s Golf follow the Wildcats on and Instagram @UKmensgolf, and online at ukathletics.com.