UK Athletics Photo
University of Kentucky women’s golfer and rising sophomore Karlie Campbell qualified for the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur on Tuesday, earning her first appearance to the United States Golf Association (USGA) championship.
Competing in a U.S. Women’s Amateur Qualifier at Old Fort Golf Club in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the Tennessee, native shot a 4-under-par 68 to claim one of the three qualifying spots out of the 65-person field Tuesday.
Campbell recorded five birdies, including three in her final five holes. She rollied in a 15-footer for birdie on the par-4 No. 18, a must have to punch her ticket to the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
UK teammate Cathryn Brown also played in the qualifier at Old Fort on Tuesday, tying for sixth place on a 2-under-par 70. Just two weeks before that, Brown won the Kentucky Women’s Amateur.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur will be held at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon, from Aug. 4-10. It will feature 154 of the best women’s amateurs in the country, a field that will play two rounds of stroke play to decide the top 64. Those advancing players will then be seeded one through 64 and compete in match play until a champion is crowned.
UK golfers have had recent success at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Jensen Castle (2020-24) won the championship in 2021, becoming the first No. 63 seed to earn the crown. Laney Frye (2021-24) was the stroke play co-champion in 2022.
Campbell is coming off her first season of college golf, hauling in a 73.9 stroke average across seven tournaments and 21 rounds. Six of her 21 rounds were par-or-better, while more than 90 percent of her rounds counted toward the team total, including her last 11 rounds in 2024-25.
The underclassman earned a career-best, 5-under-par 211 at the Paradise Invitational in February, putting together three straight rounds of par-or-better there. She earned a career-best T4 finish and was crowned Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for her performance.
Golfers Earn Academic Honors
One week after all seven University of Kentucky women’s golfers were named to the Southeastern Conference academic honor roll, four were labeled Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars, it was announced by the association this week.
Wildcats Cathryn Brown, Karlie Campbell, Anastasia Hekkonen and Brooke Oberparleiter received recognition. It is Brown’s and Oberparleiter’s second straight appearance on the esteemed list, while it is Campbell’s and Hekkonen’s first.
The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics, demonstrating the players’ high-level of academic achievements. To be selected, a student-athlete must:
— Have an overall cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher
— Be an amateur and on the team’s roster through the conclusion of the team’s season
— Have played in 50 percent of the college’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year nominated through the team’s conference championship.
