KU golfer and Washburn Rural product wins match play tourney at Wichita Country Club
.jpg "Kansas golfer Abby Glynn won the Wichita Area Women’s Golf Association (WAWGA) Match Play event at Wichita Country Club on Thursday.")
Abby Glynn was finally getting used to putting with the pin in the cup and having no rake to clean up her bunker shots.
After months of adapted golf to fit COVID-19 safety requirements, Wichita Country Club allowed the pin to stay in this week at the Wichita Area Women’s Golf Association’s Match Play tournament. Whoever pulled the pin needed to be the one to put it back in.
Glynn, a current Kansas and former Washburn Rural High school golfer, won the tournament on Thursday without even playing a practice round.
Glynn took down Wichita State golfer Kenni Henson, formerly of Derby High, 7&5 in the semifinals. She faced Katy Nugent-Winters, a KU 2012 product and Andover High graduate, in the championship match. The pair shot par on the first sudden-victory hole, but Glynn dropped in a birdie putt on the second to secure the win.
“This turned out to be a way better tournament than I thought it was going to be, honestly, competition-wise,” Glynn said. “I have never played this event, so I didn’t know what to expect, and I’m not from Wichita.”
Nugent-Winters was the only former college golfer in the semifinal field; the three others were all still in school. Along with Glynn and Henson, Hanna Hawks was the fourth semifinalist. Hawks will join Glynn at KU this fall as a freshman out of Trinity Academy in Wichita. Hawks was an All-Metro selection as a junior.
“The more people that are involved in the game at a younger age, it will just continue to evolve with girls, especially,” she said. “I’m so glad I was asked to compete in this event, and I think everyone else enjoyed it. as well.”
Hawks is a big part of the Jayhawks’ future, but Glynn is their present. A rising junior, Glynn competed in five events last year and is aiming for more after taking time during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve.
Glynn said she has improved her short game and putting dramatically with the time off.
“I’ve actually been playing way more golf, especially after school went online,” she said. “My home course didn’t shut down, so when I got done with classes in the morning, I just spent most of the day on the course. I’ve probably been playing more than I ever have. I feel like that has benefited me a ton.
“This helps just know what that I’m capable. It’s nice to compete against teammates, so it was nice to build some of that confidence. I feel confident playing match play, so if I can carry that over into stroke play, I really feel like I’ll see some difference there as well.”