‘Doctors didn’t even really want me to play’: Jensen Castle overcomes rib injury to advance to U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinals

August 6, 2021

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HARRISON, N.Y. — Jensen Castle was so absorbed in the moment Friday she was surprised to see Emily Mahar walking across the 13th green at Westchester Country Club with arms outstretched.

A resounding win in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur didn’t immediately register.

“I didn’t realize I was 6 and 5,” the 20-year-old University of Kentucky junior said. “I thought we were going to the next hole. She was ready to hug me and I was like, ‘Right now?’ It’s just about staying in the moment and enjoying it.”

Castle is locked in.

It’s been a quiet summer for the Columbia, South Carolina, resident. A rib injury has kept her off the course and limited preparations for her second U.S. Women’s Am. She advanced to the Round of 32 at the championship a year ago, but came here with no expectations.

Castle didn’t swing a club until last week.

“Like, no expectations,” she added. “The doctors didn’t even really want me to play in this. I was just like, ‘I don’t really see myself giving this opportunity up.’ I qualified so it is what it is. And as soon as this is over, I’ll probably sit out for two or three weeks until the season starts. So, I came here not packing enough clothes, golf balls, neither, but it’s been great. … Making it this far without a lot of expectations has been fun.

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Next up for the 63rd seed is a semifinal match against Stanford phenom Rachel Heck.

Castle had to survive a 12-for-2 playoff on Tuesday in order to get into match play then promptly dispatched the No. 2 seed. She is No. 248 in Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Heck is the reigning college player of the year after winning six times as a freshman. She is the NCAA individual champion and No. 2 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

“This is my last full outfit, so tomorrow I’ll have to mix and match,” said Castle, who after three days in a hotel is staying with a friend of a friend 20 minutes away from the club in Greenwich, Connecticut and sleeping on an air mattress. “A bed is a bed.”

After trading birdies at No. 1 and No. 2 with Mahar on Friday, she won the next four holes and went 5-up with a par on the eighth hole.

The course was playing a little quicker in the quarterfinals.

“I think so,” said Castle, who suffered just one bogey. “I got to the putting green this morning and blew one eight feet by and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ ”

So how are the ribs holding up?

“That’s what is so funny,” Castle said. “Everyone keeps asking me that. I’m on some anti-inflammatories and I’m taking Tylenol. … My adrenaline is so high, I don’t feel it over the ball. I only feel it walking between shots when my heart rate gets up and my breathing. Other than that, I’ve just iced it after each round.”

Valentina Rossi of Argentina moved into the semifinals with 19-hole win over Stanford University junior Brooke Seay. The Michigan State sophomore will face Yu-Chiang Hou, a junior at the University of Arizona from Chinese Taipei who defeated Ohio high schooler Cara Heisterkamp 4-up.