Kentucky women’s golf ties 4-4 with Louisville in Battle for the Bluegrass

Hunter Shelton

The Battle of the Bluegrass failed to find a winner in Naples, Florida on Tuesday.  

Kentucky womens golf tied Louisville 4-4 in a head-to-head match to open the Spring 2022 season.  

Since the Cardinals won the last Battle of the Bluegrass matchup, the cup remained with UofL following the tie at Club Pelican Bay.  

Kentucky jumped out to an early lead, thanks to Jensen Castle and Laney Frye. 

Castle, who won the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur in August, rolled past Louisville’s Agustina Gomez Cisterna in match play with a 7-and-6 victory. Frye would defeat Lauren Thibodeau 5-and-4.  

Freshman Marta López Echevarría cruised in her match vs. Molly Lyne, 5 and 3, giving the Wildcats three quick points, needing just two more to defeat their rival in the Sunshine State.  

Louisville’s Carmen Griffiths defeated junior María Villanueva Aperribay 1 up while Mairead Martin beat junior Marissa Wenzler 3 and 2. UofL’s Gabbi Bentancourt then defeated fifth-year senior Sarah Fite 2 and 1, leveling the Cards at 3-3.  

Rikke Svejgård Nielsen would get the Wildcats within one point of a win, taking down Hans Ryskova1 up, before Carly Haines outlasted UK’s Ryan Bender in the second hole of a playoff, ending the match in a 4-4 draw.  

The Wildcats squandered an early lead, preventing the Battle of the Bluegrass cup from returning to the hands of blue and white.  

Kentucky will return to action next week, heading down south to Athens, Georgia to participate in the Lady Bulldog Individual Championship, a two-day event beginning on Jan. 29.  

The action is set to begin on UGA Golf Course at 8:30 a.m. E.T.