Jensen Castle Charges Up the Leaderboard, Kentucky Improves Two Spots in the Elite Field
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Jensen Castle crammed four birdies into six holes on the front nine at the Long Cove Golf Club (par 71, 6,369 yards) on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to move up 14 spots on the individual leaderboard in the second round of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on Tuesday.
The All-America graduate student recorded a bogey on her first hole of the day – the par-4 No. 1 – but that didn’t stop her from making a run at the top 10. She responded with birdies on hole Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 7, quickly earning at 3-under and a tied-for-fourth placement for the time being. She used her last 11 holes of the day to record 10 pars and one more bogey on the par-4 No. 14.
Castle, a West Columbia, South Carolina, native, earned a 2-under in the second round for a 2-under tournament total and a share of seventh place. She is four shots behind the lone leader in the clubhouse Grace Summerhays of Arizona State.
Like Castle, Kentucky shed two strokes off its previous round Tuesday.
The Wildcats earned a 4-over-par 288 in the second round, breaking a tie and jumping two spots on the individual leaderboard to 10th place in the elite field. The Cats are now just six shots outside of the top five and 15 shots off the lead, which is currently occupied by Northwestern (-5).
Laney Frye, who previously was 2-under and in seventh place like Castle, recorded a 2-over in the second round to get back to even par at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Despite carding a team-high tying four birdies, she suffered a double on the par-4 No. 4 and three bogeys on the back nine.
All the while, the senior is still even par on the tournament for a share of 16th place. She is on the hunt for her 10th straight top-20 finish, a stretch that dates back to the last three tournaments of 2022-23.
Marissa Wenzler had another rather consistent round, going just 1-over on the front nine and 2-over on the back nine for a 3-over-par 74. She scattered four bogeys on her scorecard and a birdie on the par-4 No. 7. The graduate student is just 4-over through 36 holes and tied for 44th place.
Making the biggest improvement from the first round to the second round was freshman Cathryn Brown. Competing in just the second tournament of her college career, she went from a first-round 78 to a second-round 72. Her round included four bogeys and three birdies, including on two par 5s and a par 4.
The rookie from Eddyville, Kentucky, jumped nine spots on the individual leaderboard on her 8-over tournament total to find T68 ahead of the final round.
Marta López Echevarría found 11 pars and seven bogeys on the course Tuesday, combining for a 15-over tournament total to find 85th place.
Kentucky will tee off in the final round Wednesday beginning at 11:10 a.m. ET, paired with Arkansas and Baylor.
Golf Channel and Peacock will cover the final round live from 2:30-5:30 p.m. ET. Big Blue Nation is encouraged to follow along on Golf Channel, Peacock or live scoring.
Scorecard
T7 Jensen Castle 71, 69 … 140 (-2)
T16 Laney Frye 69, 73 … 142 (E)
T44 Marissa Wenzler 72, 74 … 146 (+4)
T68 Cathryn Brown 78, 72 … 150 (+8)
85 Marta López Echevarría 79, 78 … 157 (+15)
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