Yahoo Movies ‘This feels amazing.’ She finally got to play, and now she’s Kentucky’s State Am champ.
Rylea Marcum was unable to participate for her college golf team at Eastern Kentucky University this spring, so this week’s Women’s State Amateur at the University of Louisville Golf Club in Simpsonville provided a chance for the former Great Crossing and Scott County High School standout to flex her muscles.
Marcum defeated University of Kentucky fifth-year senior Sarah Shipley 1-up in the championship match on Wednesday, rallying to tie on the 18th hole and winning the 94th edition of the tournament on the 20th.
“This feels amazing,” said Marcum, the fourth EKU golfer to win the Women’s State Am. “This was only my second tournament of the year since the NCAA denied my eligibility in the spring, so it was just good to be back out and competing.”
Marcum, who spent the first semester of her freshman year at Western Kentucky University last fall, transferred to EKU for the 2021 spring semester but was not eligible to play because of NCAA transfer rules.
Marcum defeated another UK golfer, Sarah Fite, 6-and-4 in the semifinals on Wednesday morning to advance to the finals.
Marcum joined EKU golfers April Emerson (2009, 2011, 2013), Becky Sharpe (2015) and Elsa Moberly (2016) in winning the state amateur.
Marcum captured the 31-player match-play event by winning five matches in three days. On Monday morning, Marcum beat Eastern High School graduate Grace Bryant 7-and-6. On Monday afternoon, Marcum defeated Bellarmine’s Caroline McCrorey 4-and-2. In the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Marcum edged Middle Tennessee’s Molly Bebelaar 1-up.
UK’s Shipley reached Wednesday’s finals by beating Wildcats teammate Ryan Bender 6-and-5 in the semifinals. Bender advanced to the semifinals with the help of a hole-in-one on Tuesday.
“Sarah Shipley is a really good player and forced me to play a good match out there,” Marcum said of the championship match. “I ended up having to make some putts and keep my focus out there, but my dad (Shane) was super helpful throughout the day assuring me I was doing the right things and getting me through a day where I certainly felt a lot of nerves.”
