Ashley Kozłowski goes out on a high note before embarking on career as engineer; other 2024 CGA female players of the year: Kristine Franklin (Senior) and Ashleigh Wilson (Junior)
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This week, ColoradoGolf.org is publishing stories on the CGA’s Players of the Year. Today’s edition focuses on the women’s POYs. For the men’s Player of the Year article, CLICK HERE.)
By Gary Baines – 11/7/2024
This year has been one of change and transition for Ashley Kozlowski, who grew up in Littleton and called The Club at Ravenna her home course.
In May she graduated from Purdue University and departed the golf team after an impressive four-year run of college golf. She’s elected not to turn pro — at least not at this point — and instead accepted a job as a systems engineer at Northrop Grumman. The position required a recent move to Melbourne, Fla.
Amid all of this change and transition, one bedrock was Kozlowski’s golf game. In fact, after long being a very good player, she took things to another level in 2024. Evidence of this includes the 22-year-old just earning CGA Women’s Player of the Year honors for 2024.
Last week, on the eve of beginning her job at Northrop Grumman, Kozlowski relished finishing strong in her final golf season before settling in to her new position.
“It means a lot to me because it kind of sums up my career as a competitive golfer — throughout junior golf and college golf,” she said in an interview with ColoradoGolf.org. “Finishing off my career as well as (I did) this summer and with the CGA Player of the Year (award) is really awesome to me. It adds a last big title to everything I’ve done over the past eight years in golf. It makes me feel happy and excited, and proud of everything I’ve accomplished over that time.”
Indeed, just using her college experience as an example, Kozlowski started out as a walk-on at Purdue but finished her junior and senior seasons with the No. 2 stroke average on the team — and she posted nine top-10 individual finishes for her career, including two runner-ups. Kozlowski was a second-team All-Big 10 choice as a senior and was part of the Purdue squad that finished 29th in the women’s NCAA national championships. “Though I didn’t play the best at nationals, I think that was a really exciting experience for me — to spend one more trip with my team and coaches and experience golf on a national level like that for the last time,” she said.
Kozlowski was runner-up in the 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur.
This past summer, Kozlowski’s highlights included winning a CGA championship for the first time — the CGA Women’s Stroke Play, by eight shots — finishing runner-up in the Canadian Women’s Amateur and competing in her first U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“It was a good way to finish it out,” said Kozlowski, four-plus years removed from her first big Colorado victory, at the Colorado Junior PGA Championship in 2020.
Though Kozlowski was in contention for titles plenty of times in recent years, she was frustrated at not breaking through for victories. But that made July’s victory in the Women’s Stroke Play at the Olde Course at Loveland very satisfying. On that occasion, with her dad caddying for her, she posted scores of 70-68-69 for a 9-under-par total and an eight-shot win. That’s the largest margin in the prestigious amateur major since impending Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jennifer Kupcho won the championship by 13 shots in 2017 after prevailing by 21 in 2015 and by 19 in 2016.
“I definitely think the Stroke Play is what sticks out the most for me (from this year) because I was able to play really well back home in Colorado,” Kozlowski said. “And I had my dad there caddying, which meant a lot to me. The same with the Canadian Am, which was in a cool area and I had my dad there as well. (It’s special) because he’s been there for me all throughout my golf career. It was fun to have him caddie for those two events.”
The Women’s Stroke Play win had a very nice perk that came with it — a berth in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, which was Kozlowski’s first time competing in that championship. After stroke-play rounds of 79-73 there, she fell one stroke shy of a playoff for the final spots into match play.
Kozlowski relished having her dad caddie for her at the CGA Women’s Stroke Play and the Canadian Women’s Amateur.
Just before the U.S. Women’s Am, Kozlowski had a memorable showing in a different national championship, placing second in the Canadian Women’s Amateur — a stroke behind champion Yurang Li of Fullerton, Calif. Kozlowski (68-69-72-72) finished at 7 under par for four rounds.
Another strong showing for Kozlowski came at he Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open, where she placed 32nd overall while competing against many good professional players — and fifth among amateurs.
Even though Kozlowski, who has a degree from Purdue in aeronautical and astronomical engineering, had already accepted her job at Northrop Grumman, she did decide to compete in the first stage of LPGA Q-school. She ended up missing the 54-hole cut after rounds of 74-72-80.
“I was like, ‘I might as well try,’” she said of playing there. “If I had my head in it 100 percent, it probably would have been a different outcome. I was worried about my job and work. I wasn’t really in it in the same way many other players (who were) trying to get to stage II to try to get on the Epson Tour or the LPGA. But it was a fun experience.
Theoretically, “If I had advanced and put in all the effort to make it to the final stage and actually get a spot on the tours, I think I probably would consider going that route (going pro). But I’ve had my heart set on the (Northrop Grumman) job for quite a while. It is hard to think of what could have been if I had done something a little different.”
But Kozlowski hasn’t completely shut the door on turning pro, though she’s leaning against that.
“My job got pushed back (to starting early in November) due to security clearance reasons,” she said last week. “I don’t know what the work life is like yet. That (decision) could change in the next few months depending if I enjoy it down here and I love what I’m doing. Right now I think I’m pretty happy just playing for fun.”
Regarding the potential stress of playing professionally, Kozlowski added, “You’re either going to play really well or really bad, and it’s hard to base your life around that.”
So for the time being, Kozlowski anticipates becoming a member at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Fla., and may look into playing some amateur events run by the Florida State Golf Association. And she’ll likely tee it up in more U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Open qualifiers in the future.
Now that she’s pretty much a once- or twice-a-week golfer, does she still enjoy the game as much as she ever did?
“It’s like a completely different kind of enjoyment,” Kozlowski said. “I’ve noticed recently when I’ve played for fun, I have a lot more fun but it’s honestly kind of hard for me because I went from practicing every day and playing every day to now playing once or twice a week and not even practicing. It’s obviously a lot different than it was three or four months ago. It’s a much different mindset to be OK with not playing amazing every time and just going out to have fun. It’s still fun. And I think (golf) is going to open a lot of doors for me, especially in the corporate world and playing with co-workers and managers and stuff like that. But it’s definitely a lot different experience compared to playing in the competitive world. I always play better in a tournament than I do playing for fun or practice.”
Other female CGA players of the year for 2024:
Former pro Kris Franklin, alongside husband/caddie Brent, won three CGA championship titles in 2024.
— Kristine Franklin of The Ranch Country Club, Senior Player of the Year: Franklin earned the CGA Women’s Senior POY honor for the fifth time — but the first since she ran off four straight from 2018-21. The only person who has won the award — first presented in 2005 — more is Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, who garnered it eight times from 2009-17.
All in all it was quite a year on the course for Franklin, a former tour pro. She qualified for — and made the cut at — the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, finishing 54th despite struggling mightily with her putting. And she swept the CGA’s senior women’s majors — the Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play — in a single season for the second time (previously in 2019). In addition, she captured the title in the CGA Women’s Mashie with her former college teammate, Janet Moore.
Perhaps the most meaningful 2024 victory for Franklin was the CGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play, given that it was contested at her home course (The Ranch) and because of how she won it. Franklin trailed Eaton by five shots with six holes remaining in regulation, but managed to force a playoff after playing those six holes in 2 under par. Then she drained a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole to claim the title in the event for the fourth time. Only Eaton and Lynn Larson (six each) have won it more. Adding to the moment was having husband Brent caddying for her and son Walker watching the action.
Earlier in the summer, Franklin claimed the CGA Women’s Senior Match Play crown for the third time by defeating Leigh Klasse 3 and 2 in the final at King’s Deer Golf Club. Both Klasse and Corey Weworski, who Franklin beat in the semifinals, are among the top 30-ranked female amateurs in the world over age 50.
All told, Franklin finishes 2024 with 11 CGA championships to her credit, all time. She also was in contention this year at the CGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Stroke Play, where Eaton beat her by two.
Ashleigh Wilson finished second in several major girls tournaments this year, including the CGA State Junior.
— Ashleigh Wilson of Highlands Ranch, Girls Player of the Year: Wilson was seldom not in contention in tournaments she played in Colorado in 2024. Perhaps her biggest “win” of the year came in June at the U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier at Meadow Hills, where she earned medalist honor with a 70 and advanced to the national championship.
But Wilson had more than her share of runner-up finishes in 2024 as she placed second among the girls in the CGA State Junior, the 5A state high school tournament, the Colorado Junior PGA Championship and the Colorado PGA Junior Match Play.
In AJGA tournaments featuring top local, regional and national competitors, Wilson recorded four top-15 finishes in 2024: fifth in the AJGA Wichita Junior Championship in August, 10th at the AJGA Colorado Junior in June, 13th at the AJGA Colorado Springs Junior in June, and 13th at the AJGA Junior at Big Sky in late August.
Wilson represented Colorado at the 2024 Girls Junior Americas Cup, placing 26th against some of the top female junior golfers from the western U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Wilson sits at No. 355 in the national/international Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings and No. 361 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.
Last month, she was named the 2024 female “Future Famer” by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Wilson has verbally committed to Montana State.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com