Two golfers, one goal. How UK’s Castle and Frye plan to ‘push each other’ at U.S. Amateur.

The 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur, which gets underway Monday at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, will include two of the biggest names in the history of Kentucky women’s golf.

Both have played in the historic championship before — one even winning it all — which should serve the longtime UK teammates well again in this week’s 156-player field.

Both ranked in the top 60 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Jensen Castle (No. 38) and Laney Frye (No. 51) have constructed impressive individual resumes alongside their teammates in Kentucky blue.

“Golf is a unique team sport because when you’re out there, it’s just you,” said Frye, a former high school state champion from Central Kentucky entering her senior season at UK. “And so a lot of times that teammates’ support isn’t really seen, but there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes where we lift each other up and encourage each other and push each other.”

The Wildcats played in their first NCAA Championships since 1992 in 2021, and delivered a historic 2022-23 season that broke 11 school records, including a program-best 289.9 stroke average across 33 rounds of golf. It would be fair to say that the state of the program — which this school year will return six of its seven players including both Castle and Frye — is operating at a level much higher than it has in a long time.

Castle, now a fifth-year senior, remembers where it all began. Her freshman season, the Wildcats traveled to Woodbury, Minn., and won the Minnesota Invitational, the team’s first tournament of the year.

“We won our first college event, our first tournament,” Castle said. “We were like, ‘Wow, like this is a crazy feeling.’ And for us, it’s all we knew. We came in, we knew numbers of the year prior, but it’s not like we were around the team and the constant upset and disappointment that they experienced. But we came in and, ever since, it was immediately game-changing. We’re told numbers now, like whether it’s our rank or not, and it’s like, yeah, it’s really good for Kentucky women’s golf, in comparison to the years before. But we still have the same goal of, ‘No, we need to be better. Let’s do better. Let’s get a higher rank.’”

Ahead of what the pair hopes will be another successful collegiate season, first comes the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Castle became the first UK golfer ever to win the tournament in 2021. Last year, she was eliminated in the first-round of match play. In 2020, she reached the round of 32. Frye advanced to the match-play round of 32 last year after earning co-medalist honors in the stroke-play portion of the tournament. In 2021, Frye was knocked out in the opening round of match play.

“It’s fun seeing somebody out there wearing the logo,” Frye said. “But the teammate bond goes so much deeper than that. Yeah, she represents Kentucky really well. So when we get there and we go to the smaller events, we’ll see each other, sit with each other. I know I can pick her brain or she can pick mine.”

Frye tied for first in this year’s qualifier at Chagrin Valley Country Club in Ohio back in June, earning her third appearance at the U.S. Women’s Amateur with a 4-under-par.

“I was pretty nervous,” Frye said. “I knew my game was there to make it through. And I’ve made it the last two years, so there’s a kind of expectation put on me to make it the third year because I’m better than I was two years ago. But still, anything could happen. And it’s only 18 holes, so you never really know. But I just showed up and played my game and it was enough.”

When Frye says she’s better than she was two years ago, there’s no denying.

The Nicholasville native and two-time Kentucky Miss Golf winner (2018, 2019) led Lexington Christian Academy to state titles in 2018 and 2019 and won the 2018 KHSAA individual state championship. Still, she entered her freshman year with the Wildcats ranked past 1,000 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

In 2020-21, Frye was a Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team selection and in 2022-23 earned All-SEC Second Team honors. This spring, she played in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, was named to the 2022-23 Golfweek All-America Third Team, the 2022-23 WGCA All-America Second Team and, perhaps most impressively, won the 2022-23 Edith Cummings Munson Award, which “goes to the student-athlete who is an upperclassman and both a Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar and a WGCA All-American.”

“For Laney to come in with no expectations against a lot of higher-ranked players and prove all of us wrong and step up to the plate when she needs to is really cool,” Castle said. “And she’s only grown since. It’s been really cool to watch her grow into the person and the golfer she has become.”

For Frye, when looking to get better the name of the game is preparation.

“It’s kind of just understanding that I’ve put the work in. So I’ve got no reason to not believe in myself.”

Castle, who stunned the golf world by winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur as the No. 63-seed in 2021, returns for her fourth shot at the trophy.

“It took me six months for it to set in that I won,” Castle said. “And after the six months is when I started to realize, ‘Actually, like I am good enough. Actually, I do belong.’ ... And once I was able to take a step back and reflect, it was, ‘I’m OK, I can hang out with the big dogs like we’re here. You’re good enough.’”

The West Columbia, S.C., native never struggled with confidence on the course but the title came at the perfect time.

“I went six years without a win,” she said. “And I think any athlete is going to struggle with that. I mean, I’d gotten seven playoffs in six years and I lost every single one. And it’s not that I never thought I wasn’t good enough, but when you write down your statistics and you’re reflecting, it’s like, ‘OK, like too many second places, too many almosts, too many, like not good enough.’”

Since that win, Castle has been a two-time Curtis Cup invitee (2021, 2022), a two-time Augusta National Women’s Amateur invitee (2022, 2023), and was named to the 2022-23 All-SEC Second Team, as well as a 2022-23 Golfweek All-America honorable mention and a 2022-23 WGCA All-America honorable mention.

When asked if she’s ever picked Castle’s brain about the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Frye spoke to her teammate’s calm demeanor.

“I did (ask her) right after,” Frye said. “Maybe I should refresh myself and ask her again. I think we approach the game pretty differently. Because I remember asking her ... ‘you made like an 8-to-10-footer on the last hole to win at all, how nervous were you?’ And she’s like, ‘I wasn’t nervous.’ And I’m thinking to myself, ‘I would have been so nervous.’ And so I do think our style of play and mental approach is pretty different. So we can learn from each other. ... But she’s a killer in match play. It’s fun to see.”

Regardless of a difference in approach, or expectations or past results, Castle and Frye look forward to seeing where things go at Bel-Air Country Club.

Frye, who finished second in the Sea Island Women’s Amateur at the end of July, feels comfortable with her game plan: Play as much as possible.

“I just got back from a tournament so there’s plenty of playing there,” Frye said. “And yeah, I just practice and play.”

Castle isn’t putting too much pressure on herself, either.

“I’m gonna go out there and have fun and take everything in and just appreciate it,” Castle said. “It’s a great event, it’s always well-run. I’m excited to see my USGA friends, and obviously my competitors but you don’t go into any tournament expecting to win. I know I’m gonna go out there and give it my best effort. And whatever happens happens. It’s like life. I mean, it’ll work out like it needs to and I’ve got to trust that. I will put in the work, but even if I go six years of second place again, it will all work out.”

U.S. Women’s Amateur

When: Monday through Aug. 13

Where: Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles

TV: Golf Channel (Wednesday through Sunday)

Format: 36 holes of stroke play determine the top 64 players Monday and Tuesday. That group then contests a single-elimination match-play bracket Wednesday through Sunday.

2022 champion: Saki Baba of Japan