Around the Green

Kenlie Barrett Earns Medalist Honors at 100th Women’s Texas Amateur

Kenlie Barrett of The Woodlands shot a 2-under-par 68 to earn stroke play medalist honors in the 100th Women’s Texas Amateur Championship at River Crest Country Club.

The 21-year-old Barrett, who recently transferred to Western Kentucky University after a three-season stint at Sam Houston State, edged three 19-year-olds, Audrey Tan of Denton, defending champion Bentley Cotton of Austin and reigning TGA Women’s Stroke Play champion Emma McMyler of San Antonio by one stroke for the No. 1 seed in the Championship Match Play Bracket. Tan, a recent graduate of the University of North Texas, Cotton, a sophomore at the University of Texas, and McMyler, a sophomore at Xavier University, finished at 1-under 69.

“I started off really well and made a lot of putts on my first nine,” Barrett said. “I stayed consistent with my irons, but my tee shots got a little iffy later in the round. I just tried to stick to my game plan and ‘manage the damage’ when I got in trouble.”

It looked for the longest time that Barrett would run and hide from the 88-player starting field. Beginning her round on No. 10, Barrett played the first nine holes in 5-under 30 and birdied the 10th to get to 6-under for the day before falling back with four bogeys on her last eight holes.

Cotton, who won the 99th Women’s Texas Amateur last year at UT Golf Club in Austin, was also looking to go low on Tuesday. She was 4-under through 11, but then carded a double bogey on the 12th and bogey on the par-5 14th. Despite the slight stumble home, Cotton feels good about her chance of pulling off a repeat.

“I’ve been playing well leading up to this week’s championship and I love the golf course,” Cotton said. “I’m extremely excited about match play. I love the format so much.”

Missouri City’s Reagan Gray, 18, an incoming freshman at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, finished fifth with an even-par 70 on the 6,117-yard layout. Five players tied for sixth place at 1-over 71.

The cut for the 32-player Championship Match Play Bracket came at 6-over 76, with 11 competitors playing off for two spots. Cari Denson, 19, of Hankamer was first in with a birdie on the second playoff hole, the par-4 18th, and Tiffany Cao, 18, of Midlothian secured the final spot with a par on the fourth playoff hole (No. 18).

The remaining players will be divided into seven additional flights.

The Rounds of 32 and 16 in the Championship Match Play Bracket will be played Wednesday, starting at 8 a.m. Live scoring updates will be available once the action gets underway from River Crest Country Club. For more information on the 100th Women’s Texas Amateur, including final results from the stroke play qualifying round, click here.

In celebration of its Centennial Championship this year, the Women’s Texas Amateur has returned to the place where it all started. Opened in 1911, River Crest Country Club hosted the first-ever Women’s Texas Amateur in 1916 and then again in 1922, 1932 and 1949. The historic club on the western edge of downtown also was the site of the Texas Amateur in 1917, 1922 and 1954.