By LARRY VAUGHT
Laney Frye grew up watching the Masters on TV with her family all also watching. She has dreamed of playing at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia and now she’ll get her chance.
The University of Kentucky junior and teammate Jensen Castle both were invited to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur March 29 to April 1 that will include the top 45 ranked women, including 22 champion Anna Davis and the world’s No. 1 amateur, Rose Zhang. Castle is ranked 25th while Frye is ranked 75th.
“This is definitely a big deal,” said Frye. “This has been a goal of mine since I heard about the creation of this tournament (four years ago). Back then I didn’t even know if I would ever have a ranking. I really wanted to play there one day. I was so excited when I did get the invite.”
Frye won the Kentucky high school individual championship in 2018 and was second in 2019. Both years she helped Lexington Christian win the state team title and she was named Kentucky Miss Golf both years.
Going into this week, she had a streak of nine straight rounds under par, including three straight rounds of 3-under par 69 last week when she was ninth at the UCF Challenge in Orlando with the second best tournament title in UK history. She has finished in the top 10 in four out of five tournaments this season and had a 70.1 stroke average going into this week’s play.
She expects to have plenty of family members watching her play at Augusta. While she has not played the course before, she was there in 2016 when Danny Willett won.
“Everything on the course was perfectly manicured. It was the purest golf course I have ever seen,” she said.
Frye has played in the U.S. Women’s Open and advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in Puerto Rico. She’s also played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, an event Castle won two years ago. She’s also played in a number of major collegiate events. However, playing Augusta is different.
“It might be a little harder to fall asleep than normal the night before we play,” she said. “I just have to remember I am playing the sport I love and enjoy it.”
Frye and Castle, who played in the tourney last year, will get one practice round at Augusta.
“If you know a member (at Augusta National Golf Club), you can sneak down and get more time on the course,” she said. “I am trying now to get to know a member, so we’ll see how that goes.”
Frye never stops working on her game. She made the SEC all-freshman team — only the fourth UK player ever to do that — when she averaged 73.5 shots per 18-hole round, the fifth best mark in UK history. However, she’s a much better player two years later.
“I was able to go to Florida for a couple of weeks (before the spring season started). That helps keep the short game sharp. Getting to practice in warm weather and spend all day at the course was a big help,” she said.
She was able to add distance to her shots, especially off the tee, and says daily improvement may not seem “mind blowing” but it adds up eventually. Frye admits she has “grown up” the last three year and also naturally progressed to the point where she’s confident she can play with anyone.
“It’s fun going to tournaments now. I believe if I perform as well as I can that can give me the title unless someone just blitzes the field,” she said. “I feel like everything has worked out like it was supposed to.”
Frye often plays against LPGA-caliber talent in collegiate matches but also knows some college players don’t have aspirations to play on the tour.
“If I get paired with a couple of players who I know will make the tour, then playing with them is LPGA quality because they are putting in the work to get there,” the UK junior said. “The depth on the LPGA Tour is greater than college golf but the top of college golf is definitely LPGA quality.”
She’s taking a LPGA-type approach to get ready for playing at Augusta while also competing for UK the next few weeks.
“I am doing some extra things in practice. Knowing Augusta is on the horizon is kind of like the pros preparing for majors. They are still playing regular events but they are working on what they know they will need to do in major,” Frye said. “I am working on distance control and my putting on those Augusta greens.”
John Calipari probably reacts more to his heart than his brain when it comes to sophomore forward Daimion Collins. His father passed away unexpectedly before the season started. He was in Lexington visiting his son at the time.
“He lost 17 pounds. His dad would have been his best man in his wedding. That’s how close they were,” Calipari said. “Now he is starting to come back but I am not throwing him to the wolves. Putting him in and out. His confidence is growing.”
Calipari said Collins told him three different times after the recent Mississippi game how much he appreciated the coach.
“He didn’t need to say that,” Calipari said.
Teammate Oscar Tshiebwe lost his father at age 12 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his home. The All-American said he hugs Collins every time he sees him.
“I can look at his face, and I can see how much pain he has, but doesn’t show,” Tshiebwe said. “Because I went through that.”
Tshiebwe said it impacted him for several years after his father’s passing.
“For me to be back to normal, it took me so many years. For him, I’m just praying for him, because I can see him now … he’s starting to learn how to let it go, to let time pass,” Tshiebwe said. “It’s going to take him a little while to heal, but I just need people to keep praying for him.
“He will be good. He’s a kid who loves basketball. He works on it all the time. He competes.”
Guard CJ Fredrick says the UK team is a “brotherhood” that takes care of each other.
“Just seeing him out there, seeing him playing, seeing him smiling, having fun … that means a lot to us. He’s been through so much,” Fredrick said.
Freshman Cason Wallace is Collins’ cousin and went with Calipari to Ben Collins’ funeral in Texas. Daimion Collins took the flight back to Lexington with them.
“I’m sure he knows that I’m here for him. And if he ever needs something, I got him,” Wallace said.
Kentucky freshman receiver Barion Brown never misses a chance to make sure Kentucky fans know he is not going anywhere no matter what social media speculation might say.
The Nashville, Tenn., product is one of the key building blocks for the Kentucky offense and new offensive coordinator Liam Coen. He had a team-high 50 catches for 628 yards — both UK freshman records — and four touchdowns last season while playing in all 13 games with seven starts. He also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and averaged 27.5 yards per kick return, the third best mark in the SEC.
The five-star prospect picked UK over Alabama, LSU, TCU and a lot of other offers. One reason he picked Kentucky was the passionate fan base and he was quick to embrace the “Ls Down for Life” theme that UK fans love.
During a recent appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio he once again assured UK fans he never had any intention of transferring.
“Like every week, a fan or somebody would see something happen, or a rumor that he’s going to transfer because he didn’t get the ball this many times or he’s going to transfer because of this or that,” Brown said. “I just think honestly that was a fan perspective that was going around.
“That’s why I had to tell BBN, ‘I’m here. Y’all ain’t gotta worry about nothing. I’m here to stay.’”
While Travis Perry was pursuing becoming only the second Kentucky high school boys basketball player to score 4,000 points in his career, he also had to continue to take phone calls and visits from major college coaches recruiting the Lyon County junior.
Perry joined King Kelly Coleman in the 4,000-point club last Saturday when he scored 32 points in a win over Bracken County.
He was hearing from plenty of college coaches before then and that certainly won’t change the next few weeks or once AAU play begins.
One school who has made him a recruiting priority from the start is Western Kentucky.
“I love their coaches. They are in touch all the time,” Perry said. “They are in all the time to see. I really like them. I have a great relationship with their coaches and am continuing to build that.”
He says recently Western, Cincinnati and Purdue have been to Lyon County recently and he’s also made a visit to Vanderbilt. He also has been getting a lot of attention from Missouri and Indiana.
What about Kentucky, which extended a scholarship offer last summer?
“Coach Cal obviously is coach Cal. He’s a great coach and from when I have talked to him, he is a great person who cares about his players, program and all the people involved in it,” Perry said. “We have conversations where they tell me good game. They are keeping in touch. I am growing that relationship.
“I am trying to find a time to get down there and hopefully we make it to Rupp (Arena for the state tournament) and make a deep run. It’s just about growing that relationship and building it more with them.”
Senior outfielder Rylea Smith made a New Year’s resolution to make sure she “expressed my power as a player” and understood what her role needed to be to help coach Rachel Lawson’s team the most.
“Am I going to be an all-star player of the year, person? Probably not,” Smith said. “But I do understand I can protect those players like Kayla (Kowalik) and Erin (Coffel). I want to make sure I understand my role and can execute to make sure my team goes even further.”
Smith admits she is not going to be a big vocal leader for Kentucky softball. That’s not her personality.
“I am more of an uplifting person. I like to make sure people understand their effort is being seen but in leadership through my actions. I want my teammates to see me go 100 percent all the time and then they want to do that,” she said. “So for me it is more leading by example.”
Smith believes Kentucky has a “promising” freshman class to contribute this year, especially with so many upperclassmen willing and able to help guide them.
“We have been able to get them to catch up quickly. They are in a good spot to succeed early on,” Smith said before the season started. “But in the SEC no matter how many years of experience you have it is not easy. But because of how quickly they jumped in with us I think we are going to have really good results with them.”
Quote of the Week: “My pitch to him is that he used to go to LaRue County which is just 30 minutes from Taylor County. Just come on, this is Kentucky. You grew up watching Kentucky, so why not come here?” UK commit Hayes Johnson of Taylor County to Lexington Catholic quarterback Cutter Boley on why he should commit to UK.
Quote of the Week 2: “Even though he’s a fourth-year player, he just hasn’t played. So every minute he can get, he’s gonna gain experience. And when you play good, you gain not just experience, you gain confidence,” Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury on UK transfer Dontaie Allen after he scored 22 and 25 points in his first two starts.
Quote of the Week 3: “After nearly 14 seasons, he’s low on energy, out of ideas and coaching a team that has underperformed so profoundly any other Kentucky coach would be fired by the end of the month … Calipari almost certainly knows it’s true as well, unable to do this job at age 64 with the same innovation and vigor he did at 54,” USA Today columnist Dan Wolken after UK lost at Georgia.