Jensen Castle Finds a Way, Makes the Cut at Augusta National Women’s Amateur

AUGUSTA, Ga. – College of Kentucky girls’s golfer Jensen Fort punched in an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 18 at Champions Retreat Golf Membership on Thursday afternoon to make the minimize on the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Novice for the second straight 12 months. The Wildcat will advance to the ultimate spherical at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership on Saturday.

The second spherical was something however calm for the senior, who turned in a 4-over-par 76.

Following an hour delay off the tee due to fog, Fort left a par putt brief on the par-4 No. 1. She bounced again on her second gap, due to a 10-footer for birdie. It helped her get again to even par for the spherical and 2-under for the event.

The West Columbia, South Carolina, native tapped in a pair of pars over her subsequent two holes, earlier than struggling her first double of the event on the par-4 No. 5. The tough patch didn’t finish there although, because the Cat carded a pair extra bogeys over her subsequent three holes. By this time, she was 4-over on the spherical and 2-over on the event. She fell again to a share of twenty first place with only one gap remaining earlier than making the flip.

Feeling the stress, Fort boasted back-to-back birdies on gap Nos. 9 and 10 to seek out the highest 10 of the person leaderboard as soon as once more. Her success continued, because the senior saved par with one other 10-footer on the par-4 No. 12.

Her spherical took one other flip after that although, scoring a second double on the par-4 No. 13, earlier than struggling a fourth bogey on the par-4 No. 16. There, she had awkward downhill chip with sand coating the grass. Fort tried to realize aid, however none was given, as she dropped again to 5-over on the spherical, 3-over on the event, and only one shot exterior the cutline.

With a par on the par-3 No. 17, Fort needed to make birdie on the par-5 No. 18 to really feel comfy about making the minimize. She put her drive slightly to the best of the golf green, then her second shot in good pitching place middle of the inexperienced. Her third shot landed simply eight toes from the opening, then she willed that in for birdie and to get again contained in the minimize line.

“Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Novice does an incredible job of displaying the leaderboards in nice elements of the golf course, particularly coming down the stretch,” Fort mentioned. “So, yeah, I used to be conscious of it on No. 16 … I hit the ball lengthy on No. 18, and I had an incredible have a look at it whereas I used to be placing. I knew that I used to be out of it, tied at thirty second, after I had that putt.”

In all, Fort put collectively a 2-over-par 146 within the first and second rounds at Champions Retreat. She is tied for twenty eighth place forward of the ultimate spherical, simply two photographs again of the highest 20 and three photographs again of the highest 10.

The committee won’t launch tee instances for the ultimate spherical till Friday afternoon.

Laney Frye, a junior at UK, put collectively back-to-back rounds of 76 in her first look on the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Novice. She shaped an 8-over-par 152 within the first and second rounds at Champions Retreat, lacking the minimize by 4 photographs.

All 72 contestants within the worldwide discipline will obtain a free observe spherical at Augusta Nationwide on Friday, no matter making the minimize.

Large Blue Nation will have the ability to catch highlights from Champions Retreat on Golf Channel’s Reside at The Masters all day Friday, whereas followers can watch the ultimate spherical of the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Novice on NBC on Saturday from noon-3 p.m. ET.

For the most recent on the Kentucky girls’s golf crew, observe the crew on Twitter, Fb, and Instagram, in addition to on the internet at UKathletics.com.