Jensen Castle arrived at Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY ranked 248th in the women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings and 63rd in the 64- player field for the US Women’s Amateur championship.

The University of Kentucky rising junior and 2-time state individual champion at White Knoll and alma mater Gray Collegiate Academy left Sunday with the title. She defeated former world amateur number 1 (now ranked 21st) Yu-Chiang (Vivian) Hou out of the University of Arizona 2 and 1 in the 36-hole final to take home the Robert Cox trophy.

“It has not registered at all,” Castle said in the post-match interview on The Golf Channel. “To me, it was just another me. Fairways and greens, that’s all I thought of and here I am holding this heavy trophy.”

Castle led 2 up through 11 holes after Hou bogeyed on Holes 7, 8 and 11. Hou tied the match with back-to-back birdies on Holes 12 and 13 before Castle answered with 2 straight of her own on Holes 21 and 22 to reclaim the lead at 1 up.

Bogeys on Holes 26 and 29 by Hou enabled Castle to go up 3 up. Back-to-back birdies by Hou and a bogey on Hole 31 by Castle dropped her lead to 1 up.

Castle regained her momentum with a par on Hole 33 to lead 2 up with 3 holes left. Hou won the next hole with a birdie to close the gap again, but Castle closed it out with a 9-foot birdie on Hole 35 to win the 121st edition of the event.

In addition to the title, gold medal and trophy, Castle will have exemptions to the US Women’s Amateur for 10 years and the 2022 US Women’s Open and Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

She’s also earned an invitation to the AIG Women’s British Open at Carnoustie in 2 weeks and a spot on the 2021 US Curtis Cup team that will face Great Britain and Ireland Aug. 26- 28 at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.

“I don’t even know where [Wales] is, but I’m so excited,” Castle said. “I’ve never been out of the country so that’s really exciting. I’m just excited to represent United States. That’s always been a dream of mine.”

Castle joins Hall of Famer Beth Daniel as the only South Carolina golfers to win the US Women’s Amateur. The 7th LPGA USGA Girls Golf alum and just the 3rd player to win as a 63rd seed, she qualified for the event on July 8 in Dayton, Ohio.

Her status was questionable entering the event as she recovered from a rib injury.

She overcame an above-par 1st round in stroke play, a 12 and 2 playoff to reach the Round of 32 and rallied from 2 down with 3 holes to play to defeat world number 2 and reigning NCAA champion Rachel Hook. 5 victories later, she was proudly hoisting a trophy to return to the Palmetto State.

“I didn’t even think I’d make the cut,” Castle said. “Didn’t pack enough clothes and, here I am, re-wearing the same outfit and making it to the final day.

“You know what? I had one hour and 45 minutes of sleep [on Saturday] night. My watch tracked it. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep tonight either, but I think we’re going to leave at 4 a.m. [Monday] to head home and I have work Tuesday morning at like 5 a.m. [at Columbia Country Club], so I should probably get some rest in between those days.”