How do you come off a historic performance like winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship — something no University of Kentucky golfer had ever done — when you start a new collegiate season? Well, if you are Kentucky junior Jensen Castle you open the season with a career-best 54-hole total of 15-under par to finish second in the prestigious UCF Challenge in Orlando, Fla., and help your team finish second overall.
Castle started the tourney at Eagle Creek Golf Club (par 72, 6,349 yards) with a 6-under par 66 in round one and then matched that Tuesday with a round that included seven birdies. Before this event, her career-best round was 66 and she matched that twice in three days.
Castle easily broke the 54-hole school record of 205 held by Leonie Bettel since 2018.
The only player in the field better than Castle was Carolina Lopez-Chacarra of Wake Forest who finished with a 19-under-par 197.
My guess is Castle is even happier about what her teammates did to allow UK to finish second overall with a 31-under par 833. That broke the school record by 25 shots (the previous mark was set in 2018 on UK’s home course in Lexington). No. 6 Wake Forest won the team title with No. 7 Virginia third and No. 12 Auburn fifth.
Sophomore Laney Frye (68-70-69) and Rikke Svejgård Nielsen (69-66-72) both had 9-under-par scores 207 to tie for fourth.
The pair are now the co-owners of the third-best 54-hole score in school history, only behind Castle (201) and Bettel (205).
Frye’s previous low 54-hole score was 212 and her first-round 68 also tied her career best 18-hole round. Svejgård Nielsen’s previous best 54-hole score was 214. She had a 6-under-par 66 for a new career-best on day two.
“What a tremendous week we have had! I am just amazed and so proud of this team. They kept their poise, stayed calm and kept their foot on the gas for the entire 54 holes,” said coach Golda Borst. “As a group, they got out of their comfort zone, and to see them shatter our previous 54-hole low score like this — it gives me chills. There is no challenge they can’t face and it’s a beautiful way to kick off the spring season.”
“I am beyond excited for Jensen, Laney and Rikke. To have three girls in the top four is very special. They all kept pushing themselves and each other, and it shows their individual growth as players.”
“It was a great week for the Wildcats and is truly something that we will learn a lot from and continue to build on as we get deeper into the spring tournaments.”
Kentucky returns to action at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate beginning Feb. 28 at the Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
