UK captain Svejgard Nielsen leading ‘Cats to NCAA Championships

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A breakthrough decades in the making. For the first time since 1992, Kentucky women’s golf is heading back to the NCAA championships.

“Means the world to me personally,” said UK head coach Golda Borst. “This is why I took the job to get Kentucky to a national level and for us to be a national contender. I didn’t expect it to take eleven years.”

“It’s so special,” said Kentucky team captain Rikke Svejgard Nielsen. “We’ve worked for this all year and it’s been one of our goals to make it to the NCAA championship. Even though it has been a thing Kentucky hasn’t done for 29 years, it’s something we wanted to do.”

Rikke Svejgard Nielsen is Kentucky’s team captain and at last week’s Columbus Regional, her final round 70 booked the Wildcats a spot in the NCAA finals.

“Rikke is just an amazing person in every part of what she does,” said Borst. “She is so mature and I’m so thankful that I found her in France all those years ago. She truly believes in what we are doing.”

Starting Friday in Scottsdale, Arizona, Rikke and her Wildcats will compete against 23 other schools with one goal in mind.

“Obviously to win the NCAA championship but it’s a long week,” said Svejgard Nielsen. “We have to take it one day at a time one shot at a time and try to not get ahead of ourselves.”