Cathryn Brown, Marta López Echevarría Record Career Bests, Wildcats Finish in Seventh Place
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team concluded its first tournament of the spring season Monday, turning in a 2-under-par 862 tournament total for seventh place out of 18 teams at the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.
The Wildcats strung together rounds of 286 (-2), 293 (+7) and 283 (-5) throughout the event. Their 5-under in the final round marked the third-best, 18-hole team round out of 14 total rounds this season, while their 2-under for the tournament is the second best out of five total tournaments in 2023-24.
For the first time this season, Kentucky produced three individual finishes inside the top 25. That trio includes Laney Frye (T18, -2), Cathryn Brown (T21 , -1) and Jensen Castle (T21 , -1).
Frye, a senior from Nicholasville, Kentucky, turned in a team-best, 2-under-par 214 for a share of 18th place at the UCF Challenge, which marked the seventh straight tournament she has led her team, a stretch that dates back to the 2023 Southeastern Conference Championship.
Despite Frye, a two-time All-America, going 4-over Sunday, she anchored the team with an impressive 6-under the day before to create an advantage ahead of the final round. That marked her seventh round in the 60s, through 14 total rounds, this season. She begins the spring slate with eight straight finishes inside the top 20 and six straight finishes of par-or-better.
Two other players turned in a par-or-better tournament total at the UCF Challenge, including Brown and Castle (T21, -1).
Brown, a freshman from Eddyville, Kentucky, earned a career-best, 3-under-par 69 on Monday. The rookie, who is competing in the first tournament of her college career, pieced together a 70, 76 and 69 throughout the event, the first freshman to have at least two rounds of par-or-better in their college debut since Castle in Fall 2019.
Brown’s Monday scorecard featured four birdies, including three on the back nine, and just one bogey on the par-3 No. 5. She begins her college career with a 71.6 stroke average and a finish inside the top 25.
Like Brown, Castle also turned in a 1-under-par 215 to finish T21 at the UCF Challenge. Castle, who went 1-under Monday, birdied her first hole of the day, the par-4 No. 7, which she had birdied all week. She also converted two bogeys from the round before into birdies Monday, including the par-4 No. 1 and the par-5 No. 4.
The graduate student has fivee rounds of par-or-better this season, including two from the UCF Challenge.
Marta López Echevarría had the best round of her career Monday.
The junior rolled in five birdies during the final round, and just a trio of bogeys, to assemble a 2-under-par 70. That marked the best round of her college career by two shots. That helped her form a 5-over-par 221, her second-best tournament total in college, for T55.
Marissa Wenzler rallied her lowest score of the event Monday, too, going just 1-over. The graduate student had a rather calm round, maintaining even par through 17 holes. She finished 11-over for the event for a share of 72nd place.
The Wildcats will compete next at the Nexus Collegiate in Nassau, Bahamas, from Feb. 12-14.
Scorecard
T18 Laney Frye 72, 66, 76 … 214 (-2)
T21 Cathryn Brown 70, 76, 69 … 215 (-1)
T21 Jensen Castle 70, 74, 71 … 215 (-1)
T55 Marta López Echevarría 74, 77, 70 … 221 (+5)
T72 Marissa Wenzler 75, 79, 73 … 227 (+11)
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