BOWLING GREEN, KY (June 26, 2023) - Day one of the 99th Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Women’s Kentucky Amateur is complete. The first round of the stroke play portion of the event set the tone for the week at the coveted Women’s Major Championship. There is a tight race at the top which should make for an interesting round to set the match play portion.

Defending champion, Payton Carter, backed up her win with a great showing in today’s round firing a 71 (-1), which was good enough to take an early lead. Carter had a very steady round, carding three birdies and two bogeys. She looks to continue her great play and earn the number one seed for Match Play.

The leaderboard is bunched up behind Carter as seven players are in the hunt for the top 4 spots. Three players find themselves two back at 74 (+2); Janie Morgan, Faith Wiley, and Alaina Schmitt. Morgan just wrapped up her freshman season at Centre College at Danville with five starts. Wiley, the former Asbury Eagle brings a great collegiate golf career to the table as she holds multiple records within the program’s history. Schmitt is no stranger to Kentucky Golf Association leaderboards as she just finished runner-up at the Women’s Stroke Play last week at Oxmoor Country Club.

Two more players ended up one shot back of that mark finishing today's round at 75 (+3); Taryn Walker and Mary Keene Marrs. Walker, one of the notable players in the field is coming off her victory in the Women’s Stroke Play and hoping to carry that into tomorrow’s found. Marrs just finished her freshman year at Eastern Kentucky University but is relying on her history with Bowling Green CC during the multiple high school state championships she has competed in.

Lurking in the shadows, Alexis Daniel and Faith Martin sit on the leaderboard at 76 (+4), with as good of a shot as any to make the match play portion. Daniel, a Bardstown native, just finished her freshman year at the University of Cincinnati. She birdied the final hole today and will look to carry that momentum into tomorrow. Martin has home-field advantage as she is a member of the Women’s Golf team at Western Kentucky University. She will be one to watch down the stretch tomorrow as players look to make it into Wednesday's match-play rounds.

The primary Senior Division is shaping up to be a showdown between three great players, two of which are past champions of this championship. Jessica Cornelius leads the Senior Gross division with a score of 81 (+9) for today’s round. A local player, Cindy Summers, sits one stroke back of that mark at 82 (+10). Cynthia Powell has some ground to make up if she wants to make it to Wednesday. Powell sits at 88 (+16) on the early leaderboard.

The Net Division holds a very tight race with five players in the hunt for Wednesday. It will be fun to watch how this division shakes out during the second round of the stroke play qualifier.

Click here to view the first-round results

Click here to view Tuesday morning’s tee times

Golf House Kentucky will continue to have full coverage of the championship on its Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. Attendance of the tournament is permitted with spectators welcome free of charge.

About the Kentucky Golf Association:
The Kentucky Golf Association (KGA) is one of the three organizations encompassed under Golf House Kentucky, in addition to the Kentucky Golf Foundation (KGF) and Kentucky PGA Section (KPGA). The Kentucky Golf Association represents the amateur body of Kentucky’s golfers working in assistance with the United States Golf Association (USGA). The KGA provides a wide range of services, including handicapping, USGA course and slope ratings, and tournament management software to its Member Clubs. The KGA also operates the state’s premier amateur tournaments along with USGA National Championship qualifiers. Alongside the KGF and KPGA, the KGA strives to promote the benefits and enjoyment of golf while continuing to grow the sport across the Commonwealth.