Jensen Castle Named KGA Women’s Player of the Year
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jensen Castle is going to need a bigger trophy case.
The Kentucky women’s golfer’s breakthrough year got even more distinguished Tuesday when she was named the 2021 Kentucky Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year.
The award factors in competitions all female residents and collegiate players in the state of Kentucky competed in throughout the year.
Castle is the first player from UK to win the award (it began in 2017), earning more than two times the points as the next-closest finisher. Kentucky teammates Marissa Wenzler and Laney Frye finished third and fourth, respectively, in the voting.
“This year has been unforgettable,” Castle said. “I am so grateful to be a part of the Kentucky family. The support I have received is unbelievable. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my teammates, my coaches and everyone who has help me get to where I am. To be the Kentucky Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year is a special honor. I have never been a player of the year in South Carolina, where I grew up, and that was always a goal of mine. So, this means the world to me. Moving forward, in the upcoming tournaments, my goal is to enjoy every opportunity I get to tee the ball up and realize how blessed I am to get to do what I love surrounded by people I love every single day.”
Castle’s crowning 2021 achievement was her incredible championship run at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She beat some of the country’s top players to win the national championship for amateurs at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. The South Carolina defeated Arizona’s Yu-Chiang (Vivian) Hou, the 2020 Women’s Golf Coaches Association Freshman of the Year, in the 36-hole championship match; she took down the No. 2 overall seed in the opening of match play; and Castle toppled Rachel Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion, in the semifinals.
In winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Castle became the first No. 63 seed to win the Robert Cox Trophy and the third No. 63 seed in United States Golf Association history to win a title since seeding began in the 1980s, according to the USGA.
Castle’s victory at the U.S. Women’s Amateur earned her a spot on the United States Curtis Cup squad, the first player in school history to make the team. Competing in Wales, Castle played an important role in the Americans’ 12.5-7.5 victory over Great Britain and Ireland. On Tuesday, she was selected for the 2022 Curtis Cup.
Earlier in the summer, Castle teamed up with Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn to win their second straight Carolinas Women’s Four-Ball Championship with a record-tying score.
Castle’s individual success over the summer followed Kentucky’s historic return to the NCAA Championship Finals in the spring. The Wildcats’ reached the national championship stage in Scottsdale, Arizona, the program’s first appearance since 1992.
Of course, Castle played a central role in the Wildcats’ breakthrough, contributing 30 of her 33 scores to the team total.
Castle has not slowed down in the fall in the return to collegiate competition for Kentucky’s 2021-22 season. Now a junior, Castle leads the Wildcats in scoring average with 71.75 strokes per round, fractions better than her program’s record-setting pace in 2019-20 when she was just a freshman.
Castle posted two top-20 finishes in four events in the fall, including a third-place finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship thanks to a career-best 54-hole score of 208, 8-under par.
In addition to four collegiate events this fall, Castle also competed in the LPGA Tour’s Cognizant Founders Cup on a special exemption.
Castle and the Wildcats will break for the winter before returning in mid-January for the start of the spring slate. She is currently ranked No. 55 in the Golfstat’s individual rankings.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
