Jensen Castle, Laney Frye to Compete in 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship

LOS ANGELES – Two University of Kentucky All-Americans aim to impress at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship once again. Hosted at the Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, California, from Aug. 7-13, Jensen Castle, 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion, and Laney Frye, 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur co-Stroke Play Medalist Honoree, will tee off in the first round of stroke play Monday.

Castle will go off No. 1 at 11:08 a.m. ET paired with Kiara Romero and Gianna Clemente, and Frye will go off No. 10 at 3:52 p.m. ET paired with Megha Ganne and Bailey Shoemaker.

The order of events and TV schedule are as follows:

Monday, Aug. 7 (18 holes, stroke play)
Tuesday, Aug. 8 (18 holes, stroke play)
Wednesday, Aug. 9 (Round of 64, match play) / Golf Channel (6-9 p.m. ET)
Thursday, Aug. 10 (Rounds of 32 and 16, match play) / Golf Channel (6-9 p.m. ET)
Friday, Aug. 11 (Quarterfinals, match play) / Golf Channel (6-9 p.m. ET)
Saturday Aug. 12 (Semifinals, match play) / Golf Channel (3-6 p.m. ET)
Sunday, Aug. 13 (Championship match, 36 holes) / Golf Channel (7-10 p.m. ET)

The low 64 scorers after 36 holes of stroke play will advance to match play. If necessary, a playoff will be conducted to trim the draw to exactly 64 competitors.

Castle, a graduate student from West Columbia, South Carolina, received an exemption into the 123rd championship after being crowned champion at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur. In fact, she earned an exemption into the championship for the following 10 years, among receiving other rewards.

Frye, a senior from Lexington, Kentucky, punched her ticket to the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur after tying for first place at a qualifier at the Chagrin Vallen Country Club in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on June 29. The Wildcat recorded a 4-under-par 68 to share medalist honors with Wake Forest’s Brooke Rivers.

Castle has competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur every summer since 2020, reaching match play with each appearance. Frye has been a competitor in the field every summer since 2021, also reaching match play with each appearance.

Last summer, Castle tied for 14th place in stroke play (-4, 142), then missed the cut in the Round of 64 after losing 1up to Aneka Seumanutafa. Frye earned medalist honors with two other amateurs in stroke play (-10, 136). The Kentucky native then fell out of the Round of 32 after a 2&1 defeat to Leigh Chien.

It was the summer before that that Castle became a popular name for golf fans, thanks to her survive-and-advance performances en route to be crowned the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion. She snuck into the match-play portion of the competition at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, New York, earning the 63rd seed after stroke play. It was a 12-foot birdie putt on the 35th hole on Championship Sunday that clinched a 2&1 triumph over Yu-Chiang (Vivian) Hou.

Live scoring for the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur can be found here.

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.