April 14, 2008

Lexington, Ky. - Battling cold conditions on Sunday, Western Carolina carded an opening day 305 to lead the 17-team field at the UK Bluegrass Invitational at the par 72, 7,013-yard University Club. Senior Matt Cook posted a three-over, 75, to stand tied for ninth place entering Monday's final rounds.

Western is one stroke up on the second-place tie between Central Florida and Toledo, both shooting 306 on Sunday, with the 58th ranked Kentucky Wildcats posting a first-round score of 307 to stand in fourth followed by Miami (OH) three strokes in arrears at 310 to round out the top five.

Originally planned to play 36 holes Sunday and 18 on Monday, officials decided to cut the second round short and will finish the remaining few holes of the second round on Monday morning at 9:30 am before tackling the third round.

Cook paced the Catamounts on the first day, one stroke ahead of junior Dustin Furnari who stood tied for 13th with a four-over, 76. Junior Andres Cuenca and freshman teammate, Caleb Marsh, were tied for 19th at 77, with sophomore Ricky Stout rounding out the squad in a tie for 33rd at 79.

Final round action will conclude on Monday afternoon, with full results made available at www.GolfStat.com as well as www.CatamountSports.com.

UK Bluegrass Invitational - Round One Results
 1 Western Carolina   305 +17
 2 UCF                306 +18
   Toledo             306 +18
 4 Kentucky           307 +19
 5 Miami (Ohio)       310 +22
 6 Murray State       311 +23
   Eastern Kentucky   311 +23
 8 Western Kentucky   312 +24
10 Missouri           315 +27
11 Samford            316 +28
12 Cincinnati         319 +31
13 Ball State         320 +32
14 Dayton             322 +34
15 Austin Peay State  326 +38
16 Akron              328 +40
17 Ohio               329 +41
18 Morehead State     348 +60