Players got a little bit of everything from the weather Wednesday. Early-morning clouds gave way to plenty of midday sun with some afternoon showers, as well. However, that rain didn’t damper any of the excitement from the Round of 64 in match play, with plenty of matches going to extra holes and upsets across the board.
Kiara Romero, the 12th seed who three weeks ago won the U.S. Girls’ Junior, is one of the big names heading home early after falling to Thienna Huyhn. However, only two of the top 10 seeds were knocked out, and plenty of stars remain in Hollywood.
Here’s everything you need to know from the Round of 64 at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur, including best Round of 32 matchups and TV information for Thursday.
It’s time for one of the premier women’s amateur championships.
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur begins Monday at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, as the field of 156 players will vie for their chance to capture the oldest trophy in women’s amateur golf, the Robert Cox Trophy.
This will be the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur, which began in 1895. There were a record 1,679 entries accepted for the championship.
Although the top three players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking aren’t in the field, including defending champion Saki Baba, there’s no shortage of star power who will be teeing it up near Beverly Hills.
Here’s a look at 10 players to watch at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club.
Castle battled the world’s best amateurs once with a rib injury, so why not do it again at Augusta National?
Contending at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur is challenging enough, let alone doing so with an injury.
That is, unless you’re Jensen Castle.
The Kentucky senior was forced to withdraw from last week’s Clemson Invitational – the final event of the regular season for the Wildcats – with a rib injury, but finds herself T-4 at the 2023 ANWA after a 2-under 70 in the first round of play at Champions Retreat in Evans, Georgia.
“Right now, we’re not really sure what it is,” explained Castle, who noted the injury started as a stress fracture in 2021. “It’s flared up this past week. I don’t know if it was just a lot of golf or tightness, maybe I didn’t stretch well enough, I don’t know. Unfortunate timing for sure, especially with Augusta this week.”
Stanford’s star sophomore and the world’s No. 1 amateur Rose Zhang leads at 6 under, with Ole Miss senior Andrea Lignell in second at 5 under. Georgia fifth year Jenny Bae is solo third at 3 under.
“I was supposed to play on Friday and I took Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday off,” she continued, “so it sounds pretty familiar to the Women’s Am.”
Two years ago, Castle survived a 12-for-2 playoff just to advance from stroke play to match play at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westchester Country Club in New York. She then went on to come back in three of six matches to eventually claim the trophy over Arizona’s Yu-Chiang (Vivian) Hou.
Castle battled the world’s best amateurs once with a rib injury, so why not do it again at one of the game’s most demanding courses?
The first two rounds of the tournament are played at Champions Retreat on Wednesday and Thursday, which is no easy test. Every golfer in the field then makes the 15-mile trip to play a practice round on Friday at Augusta National, before the top-30 and ties compete in the final round at Augusta National on Saturday.
Castle, who grew up two hours north in Columbia, South Carolina, finished T-12 last year in her first appearance at Augusta National and thinks the event is already one of, if not the, biggest in women’s amateur golf.
“This is gonna be as big as the USGA, if not bigger,” said Castle, referencing the U.S Women’s Amateur. “It’s only year four I think, and it is extremely well known. I mean, this is everyone’s dream to get to this tournament, and once you’re here, you cherish every little thing. Everyone looks at you as such a hero and such a role model for the younger generation, which I think is really cool. So this is going to be one of the biggest amateur golf events if not already.”
Frye grew up in Lexington but Castle says “never in a million years” did she think she’d end up a Wildcat.
Last fall during the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, Laney Frye made her way over from Kentucky to meet with her swing coach, Ted Scott. It was there that Scott, a longtime PGA Tour caddie who currently works for World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, showed Frye how to create more width early in her downswing.
Frye, 20, went home to Lexington with the new move and saw that she was cruising at 105 mph on TrackMan.
“Well, shoot,” Frye said to herself. “It takes something to get over 100.”
The Kentucky junior added more weight shift and rotation and got up to 110 mph that first day, tacking on nearly 30 extra yards off the tee. She said Scott didn’t teach the move saying this is going to add more distance to your game. She just executed and ran with it.
In February, when the Wildcats teed it up in the UCF Challenge, Frye was stunned to find herself hitting driver, wedge on nearly every par 4.
“It’s a different stratosphere when she hits it,” said Kentucky head coach Golda Borst, who notes that Frye can now get close to 290.
Kentucky’s Laney Frye recently unlocked an explosion of power off the tee working with PGA Tour caddie Ted Scott. She’ll be one to watch at @anwagolf! Read the story: https://t.co/rAVASv9Xyd Watch the swing 🔽 pic.twitter.com/Imo2XQjhNK
That power will come in handy for Frye when she tees it up next week in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for the first time. At a recent practice round at Augusta National, Frye hit 7-iron into the par-5 13th for her second shot and 6-iron into the par-5 15th. She’s not certain who will caddie for her at Champions Retreat (site of the first two rounds) and Augusta National, though Scott is possibility. Scott won the Masters with Scheffler last year and twice before with Bubba Watson.
“He told me the most underrated quality people that do well there have is great distance control with their approach shots,” said Frye. “So I’ve been working on that quite a bit, little TrackMan games, dialing in my carry numbers has been huge.”
Jensen Castle is honored at the Kentucky-Florida football game for winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur. (Photo by Grant Lee, Kentucky Athletics)
It wasn’t all that long ago that a wide-eyed Frye stood on the first tee at The Olympic Club where she was caddying for teammate Jensen Castle at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open. Frye thinks she was more nervous than Castle that week, but seeing the best in the world up close inside the ropes gave Frye the belief she could do it, too.
“Dang it, I want to get here,” said Frye, who qualified for her first Women’s Open the next year at Pine Needles.
While Frye grew up in Lexington and a had a grandfather who played golf for the Wildcats, Castle, 22, says “never in a million years” did she think she’d end up at Kentucky. Castle committed to the Wildcats 29 days before she signed. Her other option was the University of Indianapolis, a decorated Division II school.
“They took a chance on me,” said Castle, who won the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur and finished T-12 at last year’s ANWA.
Borst said the team recently came home on a redeye to find someone standing at baggage claim asking Castle to take a picture with his daughter. Castle, who is in the midst of five consecutive top-10 finishes for the Wildcats, graduated last December with a degree in marketing and plans to stay a fifth year to finish her master’s in marketing management.
“This is what I live for,” said Castle of the crammed schedule that leads up to Augusta and beyond.
She’s still riding a high of gratefulness after slipping in the shower in January and being forced to sit out for month with a concussion. Castle didn’t realize right away how much she’d injured herself and immediately went out and played volleyball for three hours.
“For a five-day stretch I couldn’t get out of bed I was throwing up so much,” she said.
Castle will carry that thankful attitude into Augusta, where she was just getting over the flu last year when she arrived in Georgia fresh off an 81 at the Clemson Invitational.
“I obviously went into ANWA with no expectations,” she said.
Though that is far from the case this year.
Castle, whose strengths are short game and putting, said she gets plenty of motivation from Frye’s continued rise, describing her as an underdog when she walked on campus. Frye came into college No. 2,191 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. She’s now 75th.
“She just started spitting fire the first tournament,” said Castle of Frye’s share of sixth in her first event, the Blessings Collegiate Invitational.
Borst said the way Frye played last fall, she could’ve won every week. She changed clubs over the winter and it’s been an adjustment.
Scottie Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott during the third round of the 2022 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran-Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY Sports)
Frye’s connection with Scott dates back to a Christian golf conference in Lexington about a decade ago. Scott stayed at the Frye home when Laney was about 10 years old and had kept in touch with the family over the years.
When it came time to find a fresh approach, the Fryes reached out to Scott, who at the time was going into coaching full time. He has since, of course, gone back to caddying for Scheffler, so Frye and Scott meet up at PGA Tour events, which is especially fun for someone like Frye, who Borst said “eats, breathes and lives golf.”
When the Kentucky team was in Palos Verdes, California, earlier this spring for a tournament, Frye stayed behind to watch the Genesis Invitational and work with Scott. While there she played Los Angeles Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club, site of this year’s U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Amateur, respectively.
“She’s got the tools to do it,” said Scott. “It’s just a matter of ‘Hey, can I do it when it matters?’ That’s what we’re all trying to figure out how to do, right?”
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak contributed to this article.
Check out who’s in the running for women’s college golfer of the year.
With every passing week, the women’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The ANNIKA Award announced Thursday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best women’s college golfers this season. Rose Zhang, who captured the award as a freshman last season, is again having a stellar sophomore campaign, but there are plenty of others who are trying to claim the crown.
The ANNIKA Award honors the player of the year in college women’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the ANNIKA Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.
History repeated itself once again at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Wednesday’s first round of match play made for a bad day for the favorites at the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The Round of 64 featured upset losses for the top seed Latanna Stone and defending champion Jensen Castle at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington, as history continued to repeat itself at one of amateur golf’s most prestigious championships. This year marked the sixth time in the last nine years that the No. 64 seed has knocked off the No. 1 seed, and it’s also the second year in a row where the defending champion has lost in the first round.
“Honestly I wouldn’t say I was intimidated because we’re all at such a high level, I feel like it’s really anyone’s game,” said Misemer, a rising freshman at Arizona. “I kind of got that No. 64 coin on the first tee and I was like, ‘I want to always remember this as a good thing.’ I just tried to relax.”
Castle, a senior at Kentucky, was locked in a back-and-forth battle with Aneka Seumanutafa but made bogey on the last hole to lose, 1 up.
Defeat the defending champion = earn @Lexus Top Performance of the Day!
“This year has been a whirlwind. It’s been crazy. It’s been awesome. So many exemptions, so many great opportunities and a ton of great learned lessons. It’s been a year that I won’t forget for sure,” said Castle after the loss.
Five of the 32 matches on Wednesday went to extra holes and four were decided by six holes or more, the in a Round of 64 since 2012.
The Round of 32 is already underway Thursday morning, with the Round of 16 to follow in the afternoon. Friday will feature the quarterfinal matches, with the semifinals on Saturday and 36-hole final on Sunday.
Others are salvaging the final days of their summers, spending time at the pool or doing whatever to distract themselves of the impending return to school this fall. Zhao, however, is dominating one of the premier women’s amateur golf events in the world.
Zhao earned co-medalist honors at the 122nd U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington. After 36 holes of stroke play, Zhao sat at 10-under 136, tied with Latanna Stone and Laney Frye. The trio will occupy the top three seeds when match play begins Wednesday with the round of 64.
Stone earned the first seed for match play after firing a 8-under 65, a new women’s competitive record at Chambers Bay.
“Just like yesterday, everything was working well,” Stone said. “I was hitting the ball great and putted really well. Putting kind of saved me a little bit today. But it’s just fairways and greens and keeping it simple. I’m really pumped for match play. I think I can play really aggressive – even more aggressive than I did in stroke play. Yeah, I’m excited.”
Zhao, who shot 6-under 67 in the opening round, was 4 under on Tuesday. Frye was consistent, shooting two rounds of 5-under 68.
Stone will be the top-seeded player in match play, with Zhao earning the second seed and Frye the third.
“I had a couple of mistakes, but otherwise I played pretty solid today,” Zhao, from China, said. “I think I missed two short birdie putts. I really like match play, so hopefully I can put together another couple good rounds.”
Defending champion Jensen Castle, who will be a senior at Kentucky, shot 4-under 69 in the second round to finish in a tie for 14th after stroke play. Rachel Heck, the top-ranked player in the field, finished tied for 46th at 2 over. Megha Ganne, an incoming freshman at Stanford, is in a tie for fourth at 7 under.
Stroke play isn’t quite over yet, however. There was an 8-for-4 playoff to determine the final match play spots that began on the par-4 10th hole. Jieni Li, Jennifer Rosenberg and Camryn Carreon all made par to qualify. Alice Hodge was eliminated with a double bogey, and Victoria Zheng, Julia Misemer, Emma Abramson and Anika Dy made bogey to move on to the second playoff hole.
Playing the par-3 17th, all but Abramson made par, and the playoff was suspended due to darkness. It will resume at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday with Zheng, Misemer and Dy playing the par-5 18th hole to determine who earns the final match play spot.
Chambers Bay is a different course than when it hosted the 2015 U.S. Open.
The 122nd U.S. Women’s Amateur is set to begin Monday at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington. 156 of the best female amateur golfers in the world are in the Pacific Northwest to try and capture one of the biggest prizes in women’s amateur golf.
The course, which hosted the 2015 U.S. Open, will be played as a par 73 measuring 6,541 yards. There will be 36 holes of stroke play with the top 64 players advancing to match play. The champion will be decided in a 36-hole match on Sunday, August 14.
Defending champion Jensen Castle, a senior at Kentucky, is back to defend her title. She went on a historic run last year after surviving a 12-for-2 playoff just to make it to match play, winning it all as the 63rd seed.
The 122nd U.S. Women’s Amateur begins at 10 a.m. ET Monday with the first 18 holes of stroke play. Players will go off split tees in two waves with the second group beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
Here are five things to know about the U.S. Women’s Amateur:
