Ryan Bender Named Courier Journal Girls Golfer of the Year
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If there were any questions as to who the best Kentucky women’s golf prospect is coming out of the class of 2018, UK women’s golf signee Ryan Bender put those to bed by winning the Courier Journal Girls Golfer of the Year on Thursday.
Bender captured the honors at Thursday night’s Courier Journal Sports Awards presented by Kroger at the Louisville Palace. The Courier Journal Sports Awards recognize the best in Kentuckiana high school athletics.
It’s the third straight year Bender has won the award. She was one of four finalists.
Bender is one of two signees – Conway High School’s (Arkansas) Casey Ott being the other – in the Kentucky women’s golf 2018 class. Both will compete for UK in the fall and are expected to make an immediate impact.
The award caps a dominating high school career for Bender at Sacred Heart Academy. In the fall, she won the Kentucky High School Athletic Association 2017 individual state championship while leading Sacred Heart to the team title as well.
Bender has carried on Sacred Heart’s recent dominance in the state, leading the school to the 2014, 2016 and 2017 KHSAA team state titles. Along the way, she’s been crowned the Region 5 individual champion in 2015 and 2016, led the team to the Region 5 championship four consecutive years (2014-17), and guided Sacred Heart to back-to-back undefeated seasons in 2016 and 2017 (34 consecutive team wins). Bender was the first girl in Sacred Heart history to win both the team and individual state titles.
She was tabbed to the All-State First Team in 2017 and is a four-time All-Region 2 First Team selection and a two-time Region 5 Player of the Year pick.
Bender and Ott will be important pieces for the Wildcats in the fall after bidding farewell to seniors Isabelle Johansson, Grace Rose and Ale Walker. Combined, the three seniors played in 287 rounds in their Kentucky careers with two tournament titles, two dual-match medalist honors, 21 top-20 tournaments finishes and eight top-10 tournament showings.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
A post shared by Kentucky Women’s Golf (@kentuckywgolf) on Jun 8, 2018 at 2:10pm PDT
