To start the recap of July, we’re going to jump to the end of the month to rehash the 101^st playing of the Kentucky Open. Taking place at Triple Crown Country Club, the entry field for the state’s most prestigious championship was trimmed from 156 players to 120 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This edition of the State Open also had the dubious distinction of being the first in many years that needed to finish on Friday rather than its traditional Thursday date, which was caused by heavy rain on what was supposed to be the final day of the championship. The lead group was only able to complete four holes that day before the lovely summer weather patterns of Kentucky demanded a Friday finish.

Once play resumed, the story coming in was whether J.B. Williams would provide the eleventh instance in which a player has won the tournament in consecutive years. Williams made a triple bogey on his final hole of his Thursday play to trim his lead to one stroke; a tough hand to be dealt right before a day-long weather delay. He rebounded strongly, however, making birdie on two of his first three holes in the resumed final round which put him back in command of the tournament.

Two of his challengers for the day came in the form J.M. Butler and Billy Tom Sargent, each of whom started the final round several strokes back of Williams but made huge moves to draw within a stroke of Williams midway through the round. Butler rattled off six birdies in eight holes to start the back nine, but a costly bogey on the closing hole ended his chances of a comeback victory. For Sargent, a birdie-birdie-eagle sequence on holes 8-10 rocketed him up the leaderboard, but a double bogey on the 12^th was detrimental in his quest for his first Kentucky Open title. Despite making three birdies in his final four holes, he finished T4, which is where Butler also finished.

Jacob Cook and Trey Shirley each finished T2, with Cook managing to get low amateur honors in the process while Shirley was looking to replicate his Kentucky Open triumph in 2018. Cook shot 32 (-4) on the back nine to climb the leaderboard and snag low amateur honors. Shirley, who played in the final group with Williams, saw his chances fade with a double bogey on the 12^th and was unable to hole enough birdie putts down the stretch to tie Williams.

J.B. Williams stood his ground from the chasing pack and played a solid, consistent back nine which resulted in a wire-to-wire victory, backing up his victory from 2019 at Kearney Hill Golf Links. The victory also confirmed a possible J.B-connection with Triple Crown, as J.B. Holmes won the Kentucky Open the last time it was hosted by Triple Crown, being 2003. But for Williams, it cemented his place in Kentucky golf history by winning the event once more and provided a bright spot on a 2020 season that has proven to be brutal for professional golfers like him that are trying to work their way up to the PGA Tour.

One golfer who had a very good 2020 from an on-course perspective was Macie Brown. She won the Kentucky Girls Junior PGA Championship at The University Club at Arlington which rang in the month of July for big-time Kentucky tournament golf. Brown used rounds of 73 (+1) and 72 (E) to walk out of Richmond with a five-stroke victory in one of the finest performances of the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour season. She cemented her place as one of the top junior females in the state during July thanks to this victory, a top-five finish in the Kentucky Girls Junior Amateur and a T14 result in the Kentucky Women’s Open.

That event, the Commonwealth’s most prestigious trophy in the women’s game, was won by a player who had never step foot in Kentucky until the tournament took place. Nishtha Madan won the 24^th playing of the Kentucky Women’s Open at Heritage Hill Golf Club with a three-shot victory over two Louisville Cardinals, Lauren Hartlage and Delaney Shah. Madan instantly put the field on notice in the first round with four straight birdies to begin the tournament. She transformed that start into a round of 65 (-7), three strokes better than second place.

Madan held onto that cushion in the final round despite a heat-seeking start from Hartlage, who opened the round by going eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie to have her right on Madan’s heels entering the back nine. Madan was consistent and precise throughout her plotting of Heritage Hill, however, and never opened the door much for Hartlage or Shah. Madan would end up making only two bogeys throughout the competition alongside fourteen birdies, resulting in a victory in her first trip to Kentucky.

The state’s Match Play Championship featured an epic showdown between an up and coming amateur in Jay Kirchdorfer versus one of the top mid-ams in Kentucky, Josh Rhodes. Having reached the final stage of the head-to-head competition which began with 39 players at Nevel Meade Golf Club, the heavyweight matchup saw several momentum swings resulting in one of the most exciting finishes of the year. Rhodes was 3 UP on Kirchdorfer making the turn, with Kirchdorfer having surrendered the 9^th hole after his tee shot became a lost ball in the native grass. Things were looking good for Rhodes, but the par-four 10^th at Nevel Meade was set up to be drivable which Kirchdorfer managed to reach off the tee, leading to a birdie and the first of four straight holes won by the Kentucky Wildcat golfer. With Kirchdorfer now in the lead, he took a 1 UP advantage into the final hole where each player inexplicably lost their tee shot off the tee. The bizarre situation essentially meant each player got a mulligan which boiled down to Rhodes needing to hole a chip for par to force a 19^th hole. The ball stayed above ground, and Kirchdorfer had won one of the most coveted amateur prizes in the state for the first time in his career. Scott Ray won the Senior Division in the event while David Biddle took the trophy in the Senior Net Division.

The week prior to this event at Boone’s Trace National Golf Club, the Kentucky Boys Junior Amateur did its best to offer up an incredible finish of its own. What looked to be a final round duel between Hayden Adams and Luke Coyle turned into a free-for-all where Rylan Wotherspoon, Clay Pendergrass, plus Adams and Coyle all had at least a share of the lead at some point during the final nine holes. The four combatants offered up a back nine that was so up and down, any score seemed possible at any given moment with the final nine scores turning out these totals:

All of that led to Hayden Adams and Rylan Wotherspoon finishing in a tie for first at 137 (-7) while Luke Coyle and Clay Pendergrass finished a stroke out of the playoff with 138 (-6). The drama continued into the playoff with Adams making arguably the shot of the year via a chip-in for birdie on the first hole of sudden-death. The shot and victory produced one of the biggest wins to date for the sophomore at Sayre School in a tournament that won’t soon be forgotten.

The junior girls of Kentucky got the major stage back the next week at Cherry Blossom Golf Club which hosted the Kentucky Girls Junior Amateur. Delia Gibbs, who had consistently been a top junior in the state for several years, broke through for her first major on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour with a victory just before beginning her college golf career with the Belmont Bruins. Gibbs recorded a one-stroke victory that happened largely in part due to a ten-hole stretch in the middle of her final round which she played in -5. Despite a brief scare on the last where she made double bogey, Gibbs was able to hang onto the victory over Savannah Howell.

Other events taking place throughout July included the KPGA Pro-Lady at Greenbrier Golf & Country Club, won by the team of Steve Cox/Christen Neleski/Lisa Day/Pat Klinglesmith while Tom Walters was the low professional. The KGA Am Series also teed it up at Indian Hills Country Club in a preview of the 2022 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Amateur which will take place there. Josh Rhodes rebounded from his heartbreaking State Match Play defeat to record the low round of the day there, while Casey Tooley, Jeff Egger, Allen Russell, Willie Edelen, Sammy Levinson, Doug Jenkins, and Jerry Edwards also scored victories.

To close out July, maybe the most enjoyable stat of the year to report is the four hole-in-ones that took place across all levels of competition throughout this month (and the year as a whole). A well-deserved shoutout is deserved for each of these gentlemen for their aces.

• Zach Perry, 16^th hole at Bardstown Country Club (Kentucky PGA Junior Tour event on July 14^th)
• Jacob Cook, 5^th hole at Nevel Meade Golf Club (Kentucky Match Play Championship qualifying round)
• Rob Crocket II, 16^th hole at Triple Crown Country Club (Round 1 of the Kentucky Open)
• Joe Hamilton, 7^th hole at Winchester Country Club (Kentucky PGA Junior Tour event on July 30th