Trio of Kentucky Women’s Golfers in 121st U.S. Women’s Amateur
RYE, N.Y. – Three Kentucky women’s golfers – Jensen Castle, Laney Frye and Marissa Wenzler – will compete this week in the 121st U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, the premier national amateur golf tournament.
Castle and Wenzler, who will be juniors this fall, and Frye, who will be a sophomore, are a part of the 156-player field. Female amateurs from across the world will compete Monday through next Sunday at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.
Kentucky’s three representatives are tied for the second most in the field. Only Stanford, with four players competing this week, features more players this week.
Played annually and organized by the United States Golf Association, the tournament has been played since 1895. There are no age restrictions, but to make the field is an achievement within itself with a record 1,560 entries and a maximum USGA Handicap Index of 5.4. A total of 25 sectional qualifiers were held in the U.S. and one in Canada.
Frye placed third at the qualifier in St. Clair, Michigan with a score of 72 and Castle and Wenzler tied for fourth in Dayton, Ohio with scores of 70. Other exemptions were made to complete the field. This will mark the second straight appearance for Castle and Wenzler.
Making the tournament shouldn’t come as a surprise for the Kentucky trio. All three played major roles in Kentucky’s breakthrough 2020-21 season that resulted in the program’s first NCAA Championship Finals berth since 1992.
Wenzler, Castle and Frye have all also all enjoyed solid summers. Wenzler won the Women’s Western Amateur Championship last month, Castle captured her second straight Carolinas Four-Ball Championship and played in the U.S. Women’s Open in June, and Frye tied for second last week at the inaugural Sea Island Women’s Amateur.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur begins Monday at 7 a.m. with the first of two days of stroke play. The field will be trimmed to 64 players after 36 holes of competition on Tuesday and proceed with five ensuing rounds of match play until a champion is crowned Sunday. Both Castle and Wenzler made it to match play in their appearances last year.
Frye will tee off first on Monday at 8:45 a.m., followed by Castle at 9:06 a.m. and Wenzler at 1:35 p.m.
The Golf Channel will begin its coverage of the tournament starting Wednesday at 4 p.m. Thursday will also begin at 4 p.m., and the final three days will all be televised starting at 1 p.m.
Past notable champions include Julie Inkster (1980-82), Grace Park (1998), Morgan Pressel (2005), Danielle Kang (2010-11) and Kristen Gillman (2014, 2018).
The West Course at Westchester Country Club is a Walter Travis design. It will play at 6,488 yards, a par 72.
Castle and Wenzler have played in a combined 33 events in their first two seasons at Kentucky. Castle posted the top scoring average in school history as a freshman and Wenzler recorded the third best. Although neither could match their record-setting marks as sophomores, each played an important role in the NCAA Championship run with Castle contributing a team-high 30 rounds towards the team score in 2020-21 while Wenzler posted the second-best UK score at the national championship.
Frye was sensational as a freshman, leading the Wildcats in scoring average and rounds of par or better. Her 13 rounds of par or better are the second most in school history. Frye was also named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team.
Kentucky’s 2021-22 schedule was released last month. Returning all five players who qualified and played in the NCAA Championship Finals, the Wildcats will play in nine regular-season events before the SEC Championship and postseason play. After navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic, UK will return to a traditional schedule with four tournaments in the fall, four in the spring, a head-to-head matchup with rival Louisville and then the postseason.
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.
