Laney Frye and partner Claira Beth Ramsey shot an 11-under par 51 in the tournament’s first round Friday. (Bill Caine/Woodford Sun Photo)
Cathryn Brown says she did recognize a few of the “big names” playing in the Woodford Legends Invitational at the Woodford Club in Versailles.
However, the University of Kentucky golfer also admitted that not only did UK coach Golda Borst tell her who some of the former LPGA Tour greats were but she also went to Google to learn more about players like Jane Blalock, Amy Alcott, Rosie Jones, Hollis Stacey and others.
“It’s kind of like if you are a little kid playing against Tiger Woods,” said Brown, who just completed her freshman season at UK. “It’s pretty cool to be out here and tomorrow I could be paired with some of them and get to kind of pick their brain about how they got to the LPGA and stayed there.”
Brown was one of 13 amateurs participating with 27 LPGA Tour legends in a two-player scramble.
Brown and Marshall golfer Marsha Borders, a former Miss Kentucky Golf finalist from Bardstown, shot an 8-under par 64 in Friday’s first round and will play with former LPGA stars Brandi Burton and Alicia Dibos today.
Brown’s UK teammate, Laney Frye, had one of the day’s best rounds as she combined with Eastern Kentucky University golf Claira Beth Ramsey, who was on Madison Central’s 2022 state title team, for an 11-under 61 that puts them in third place — Becky Morgan/Catriona Matthew shot 59 and Sherri Steinhauer/Lisa DePaulo shot 60 — going into today’s final round. They will be paired with pros Amy Alcott and Tammie Green.
Frye just concluded a record-setting UK career and said she seldom gets asked to play in scrambles. While they are fun, she said a two-person scramble rather than the traditional four-player format put a little more pressure on players.
“You rarely have to play a bad shot in a four-player scramble but you can find yourself in a bad situation in this format,” Frye said.
Frye said she knew a “good amount” about the LPGA legends she was playing against and that gave her a “little extra incentive to want to do well” against players of that caliber.
“They have also contributed so much to get women’s golf where we are today,” Frye said after Friday’s round. “I wanted to play well because even though I might not know who they all are, they’re still all these players who won so many tournaments. They are going to see my scores and because they repair tomorrow based on scores, it would be cool to play with the ladies that have been doing this for so long and see if I can learn something.”
Frye and Ramsey will play with Alcott and Green today in the final round.
Most of the former LPGA greats all did the same thing after finishing play Friday — they either went to the practice range or putting green
“You never stop wanting to be better when you are competitive. There’s always a drive for us,” Brown said. “My goal is to make it to the LPGA. I don’t know what their drive is because they’ve already had such great success but still keep working like this. That drive just does not go away.
“That is something you grow up with and they did all get to the highest level. Our goal is just to get there so of course we practice after a round for two hours because we want to get those two shots back we lost and different things like that. I get what they are doing. They are trying to get those shots back just like we all do. But it is a great reminder to us all about why you better keep practicing.”
Frye, who hopes to start her professional career this fall, noticed what the LPGA legends did after finishing their rounds also.
“I thought they may just say it was fun and let’s quit and go home,” Frye said. “I guess not. They’re still dedicated to the game and that’s a great example for all of us younger players.”
