There is major championship golf... in mid-December! We encourage you all to watch the U.S. Women's Open throughout the weekend, and while it is unfortunately Kentucky-less, the USGA's campaign this week of #WomenWorthWatching is very important to our organization. As a result, we'll be spotlighting some of our Kentucky golfers who are #WomenWorthWatching during the 75th edition of the tournament taking place in Houston, Texas.

Lauren Hartlage

There's no doubt Lauren Hartlage is one of the #WomenWorthWatching from Kentucky golf. The E-town native and Louisville Cardinal won the Kentucky Golf Association's Women's Player of the Year Award last month.

Helping her do so was a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Women's Open at Heritage Hill along with an appearance in the U.S. Women's Amateur which took place in Maryland. Lauren also scored a couple of big amateur wins throughout 2020; one early and one late.

The early win came at the Women's Orlando International Amateur Championship in January where she won by 4 shots. Then in October, she took the Golfweek Purdue Amateur title. Each of those have helped her get to her current position of 70th in the WAGR, where she's ranked as high as 41st in the past.

Lauren is a past champion of our Women's Open, which fittingly came at University of Louisville Golf Club in 2018. Regarded as one of the most exciting finishes in the history of the event, Hartlage out-battled her college teammate Olivia Cason (another Kentucky native) to ultimately win in a playoff at their collegiate home club.

Hartlage has multiple USGA Championship appearances including her U.S. Women's Amateur start back in August. We have no doubt many more are on the horizon, including some appearances in the U.S. Women's Open.

Martha Leach

Martha Leach is perhaps the most successful Kentucky female golfer in history to this point. Martha is a Hebron resident and multi-time recipient of the KGA's Women's Player of the Year award. Earlier this year in Pinehurst, she won the North & South Senior Women's Championship, the latest in a world-class trophy case she's accumulated.

In 2009, she won the U.S. Women's Mid-Am at the age of 48 at Berkeley Hall Club in South Carolina. It's the signature victory of her career to this point and has resulted in many USGA exemptions since then. Her competitiveness and golf game have kept her as a continual thread to succeed since then, however, as she made it to the Round of 16 in last year's Mid-Am, along with quarterfinal appearances in the same event in 2016 and 2015.

We're proud of Martha and all she's accomplished. We're excited to continue watching Martha in the years to come and see what other trophies she can claim to add to her incredible resume.

Emma Talley

For several years now, Emma Talley has been a must-watch for Kentuckians when it comes to #WomenWorthWatching. Born in Paducah and raised in Princeton, Emma had a stretch where she won the KHSAA State individual title three out of four years (2008, 2010, 2011).

After graduating high school, Talley won two of the most prestigious titles in women's amateur golf. The first of which was the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2013 at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina. Two years later, she captured the NCAA Women's Individual Championship during her time with the Crimson Tide of Alabama. That was the signature moment of her decorated college career, which also included First Team All-American selections in her junior and senior years.

Talley turned professional in 2016 and has been playing on the LPGA Tour and Symetra Tour ever since. She notched her first professional win in 2017 on the Symetra Tour and had her career-best finish on the LPGA Tour earlier this year, a T5 finish at the Marathon Classic. To this point, she's earned more than $600,000 in career earnings on Tour.

Emma just missed out on qualifying for this week's U.S. Women's Open, but she's got plenty of major starts coming up in her future. After all, she did finish T17 in the Women's British Open as an amateur at Royal Birkdale.

But most importantly, Emma is one of the nicest people on the face of the planet. Extremely generous with her time, you are hard-pressed to find someone as friendly as this one. We're very proud of what she's accomplished and thankful for how well she represents Kentucky.

The Young, Talented Future Stars

Laney Frye, a freshman for the Kentucky Wildcats, put forth some dominant performances to close out her career on the Kentucky PGA Junior Tour. She won the Kentucky Girls Junior PGA Championship consecutive times in 2018 and 2019. She won the Kentucky Girls Junior Amateur in 2019 as well, thanks in part to a final round 64 (!!!) at Cherry Blossom. For the cherry on top, she also won the KHSAA State title in 2018.

Coincidentally, Macie Brown and Macey Brown share the same name (minus spelling differences) and two of the sharpest golf games in the state. Macie, a sophomore in high school won the Kentucky Girls Junior PGA Championship this past summer along with the KGCA All-State Championship in the fall. Macey, a junior in high school won the KHSAA State title. With some time in high school still remaining for each, the ceiling of each player is extremely high. Here’s to hoping we get a Macey Brown-Macie Brown playoff in one of the state’s biggest tournaments at some point for the great golf we’d see and the inevitable confusion it might cause.

Delia Gibbs won the Kentucky Girls Junior Amateur this season and is now in her freshman year with the Belmont Bruins. A deserving title in her swan song to junior golf, as the Lexington native had been one of Kentucky’s most consistent players throughout her career, bringing in numerous honors. That, however, was a fitting way to get a highlight trophy right before beginning college golf.

Kentucky has been blessed with some phenomenal junior talent as of late and there are so many names that you should all keep your eyes on. Rylea Marcum, Ke’Asha Phillips, Sarah Fite, Olivia Hensley, Faith Martin... the list goes on and on. Them and so many more all #WomenWorthWatching and we hope you’ll watch them all with us.