Gianna Clemente, 15, has a chance to become the third straight teenager to win the ANWA. Dylan Buell

A year ago at this time, the official website for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur picked 10 ‘Players to Watch’ for the 2022 championship. The list included most of the top-ranked entrants at the time, including Rose Zhang, Amari Avery and Ingrid Lindblad.

A golfer not included: Anna Davis. It was completely understandable, because, at 16 years old, she was one of the youngest players in the field and making her ANWA debut. There was no reason to favour the schoolkid among a bunch of college stars.

But we know what happened. Davis stunned them all with a final-round three-under-par 69 at Augusta National. It just goes to show that we can identify the favourites all we want for this week’s fourth ANWA, but among these talented young players, anybody in the 72-woman field seemingly has a chance to lift the trophy in the 54-hole event that will be contested on Wednesday and Thursday at Champions Retreat, with the final round on Saturday at Augusta National.

Indeed, if we’re looking for trends, relatively unknown teenagers have won the last two titles, following the inaugural 2019 victory by Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, who was 21 at the time and turned pro that summer (and now is a major champion after winning last year’s Chevron Championship).

Zhang, Avery and Lindblad all return to the ANWA, and for the first time in the tournament’s brief history, it will have a past champion trying to repeat. In fact, there are two this week: Davis and Japan’s Tsubasa Kajitani, who curiously skipped her defence last year.

So, here are 12 players to watch, with no guarantees that any of them will win.

Anna Davis

At 16, Anna Davis was the youngest winner of the ANWA in its third year of being played. David Cannon

The California native was ranked 100th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking when she shot a final-round 69 to be the youngest player so far to win the ANWA. Now the 17-year-old is No. 8 in the amateur world, mostly on the strength of competing in seven LPGA events after her victory and making the cut in five of them. Davis has two impressive wins in 2023, at the Junior Orange Bowl International and Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.

Ingrid Lindblad

Ingrid Lindblad. Harriet Lander/R&A

In terms of past ANWA results, the 22-year-old Swede who plays at LSU should be the favourite. She tied for third in 2021 and second last year. It’s hard to fathom that the current WAGR No. 2 didn’t prevail last time out, considering Lindblad made eagles at 8 and 15 and birdies at 3, 7 and 14. But she bogeyed the final hole to lose by one. This, after missing the ’21 ANWA playoff by one stroke. The résumé is all there, including being the low amateur at last year’s US Women’s Open with a T-11.

Rose Zhang

Rose Zhang is trying to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in her fourth appearance. David Cannon

On paper, the 19-year-old sophomore at Stanford is the clear favourite. She is the hottest player in the college golf, with five victories in her first six starts this season, and Zhang made the cut in three LPGA majors last year. She also just broke Lydia Ko’s record for consecutive weeks (131) as the WAGR No. 1. But the ANWA has remained elusive, with Zhang’s best finish in three starts being a T-3 in the ’21 edition.

Amari Avery

Amari Avery tied for fourth in the ANWA last year. David Cannon

A 19-year-old sophomore at USC making her third ANWA start, Avery tied for fourth last year with a closing 72. She is also having a strong college season, with six top-15 finishes in her eight starts, including one win and a T-3 in the recent Juli Inkster Meadow Club Collegiate.

Saki Baba

The 17-year-old from Tokyo was mostly unknown to the golf world until her dominating victory in the 2022 US Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, when she crushed Canada’s Monet Chun, 11 and 9, in the final. It was the third-largest winning margin in the championship’s history, and the event’s first victory by a Japanese player in 37 years. Baba won two big amateur titles in Asia last year, and in February she finished T-34 in the Honda LPGA Thailand, in which she was grouped in the final round with major champions Hinako Shibuno and Yuka Saso.

Gianna Clemente

Gianna Clemente. Gregory Shamus

This stage would seem enormous for a 15-year-old, but Clemente has proven to be talented beyond her years after local qualifying for three consecutive LPGA events last year while she was 14. That success came along with a runner-up in the 2022 US Girls’ Junior and three wins in WAGR events. Clemente also has some experience at Augusta National, having been a Drive, Chip & Putt National finalist in 2017.

Tsubasa Kajitani

Tsubasa Kajitani. Jared C Tilton

She is the mystery woman of the ANWA. In 2021, the then 17-year-old Japanese golfer was a relative unknown when she shot 72 in the final round and beat Emilia Migliaccio in a playoff. But for reasons that have never been clear, Kajitani didn’t return to defend her title in 2022, and she has played so sparingly that her WAGR ranking has dropped from fifth after her ANWA win to 163rd. The last event in which she earned WAGR points was last August’s US. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, where Kajitani reached the match play and lost in the first round.

Jensen Castle

The 2021 US Women’s Amateur champion, who finished T-12 in last year’s ANWA, had a busy 2022 summer that included playing on the winning US Curtis Cup team while also making starts in two professional majors, the US Women’s Open and Evian Championship. Jensen, 22, has six top-15 finishes in seven starts for Kentucky this season.

Megha Ganne

Megha Ganne. David Cannon

A freshman at Stanford, the 19-year-old’s most notable time on the national stage came when she was the low amateur at the 2021 US Women’s Open at the Olympic Club, tying for 14th after playing in the final threesome on Sunday. She played on last summer’s US Curtis Cup team and has four top-10s this season for the Cardinal, including a runner-up in the Carmel Cup in her college debut. A four-time DCP finalist, Ganne missed the cut in her first two ANWA starts.

Latanna Stone

Latanna Stone returns to the ANWA after a late collapse last year. Gregory Shamus

With a birdie on the 16th hole at Augusta National last year, Stone had the clearest path to win the ANWA; she had a two-shot advantage over clubhouse leader Anna Davis with two holes to play. But she double bogeyed the 17th and bogeyed the 18th to tie LSU teammate Ingrid Lindblad for second. Stone, 21, notched her first collegiate win in February.

Rachel Kuehn

Rachel Kuehn. Matthew Lewis/R&A

Considering what Kuehn, 21, did in last year’s ANWA final round, the Wake Forest senior is likely to be a title contender if she gets in position after Champions Retreat. Kuehn birdied four of the first seven holes and shot three-under 69 to finish solo seventh. As a possible omen, the WAGR’s No. 4 player won the Augusta Invitational earlier this month.

Emilia Migliaccio

Emilia Migliaccio. Kevin C Cox

The 23-year-old from North Carolina is an interesting study. After she lost in the ’21 ANWA playoff, she seemingly headed off to a career in journalism. But Migliaccio worked for a time, took a year off and returned to Wake Forest for a fifth season after capturing the North & South last summer and playing for the US Curtis Cup team. She is looking for a rebound of sorts in the ANWA after missing the cut last year.

The post Looking for favourites at the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur? We’ve got 12 of them appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Know this first about teenager Anna Davis when she talks about what seemed like an out-of-nowhere victory in last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Before her win, the San Diego native had little knowledge of Masters history or the revered challenges and subtleties of Augusta National Golf Club. Her dad has said her only exposure to the Masters was watching the final hole of Tiger Woods’ triumph in 2019.

That naivety probably played a role in the 16-year-old high school sophomore shooting a three-under 69 in the final round to beat a field loaded with college stars. She was not overtaken with awe making her way through Amen Corner or getting all caught up in memories of the greats chugging their way up the 18th hole.

Funnily enough, it seems like Augusta National remains in Davis’ mind as simply a very nice place to play golf. Nothing more, nothing less.

Talking about the defence of her ANWA title in the 54-hole tournament that will be played March 29-30 at Champions Retreat and April 1 at Augusta, Davis said she hasn’t returned to Augusta National since her winning round a year ago, though she would have certainly had opportunities to do something most golfers would drool over.

“I hadn’t really had the time,” she said. “It’s kind of hard. I do live in California. That’s a little difficult to make a trip to Georgia. It didn’t fit into the schedule. This is the week I would have gone, and I didn’t make time for it.”

Don’t feel sorry for her. Davis, 17, was speaking from one of the plush cabins on the grounds at Champions Retreat, where she is practising at what is arguably the ANWA’s more important venue, considering the first two rounds are played there. Those are the perks of being the champion, and she is the first of three ANWA winners to come back to defend.

Davis is certainly not one to cling to conventions, or even risk ruffling a few feathers of those who wear the green jackets. In the most comical bit of her media chat, she was asked if she had a favourite treat at Augusta, since there are so many to choose from. Davis struggled to come up with an answer and then said: “I know the pimento cheese thing is like a really big thing, but I just can’t get over how gross it is.”

You can have your trophy taken away for such blasphemy.

Teenager Anna Davis will be the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion to attempt to defend her title. David Cannon

On another light subject, there is the bucket hat Davis wore for the final round last year. Her look became something of a sensation, stirring debates about the style’s merits while making Davis instantly recognisable during the LPGA events she played last summer. “The fuss over the bucket hat was pretty funny for a little while,” Davis said.
Emphasis on little, because she hasn’t sought to be known as “the girl in the bucket hat” and doesn’t embrace it as her signature. Ask her parents. Davis has an independent streak and said on Tuesday that it will be a game-time decision on going with the bucket during the ANWA.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Davis said coyly. “It kind of depends on my mood and also depends on the weather.”

More seriously, Davis will go into ANWA coming off a significant wire-to-wire victory in last week’s prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Currently ranked ninth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, she also won the Junior Orange Bowl International in January and has two other top-10 finishes since playing last year in seven LPGA events after her ANWA win, and making the cut in four of them.

After getting a taste of the LPGA life, Davis had a decision to make about her future: turn pro or go to college. And she admits that she felt impatient about making the call. Ultimately, she chose school and Auburn, where her twin brother, Billy, a decorated junior golfer in his own right, will also play on scholarship for the men’s team.
“At the end of the day I kind of decided I needed more experience in different situations, in different pressure situations,” Davis said. “And to have a life for a few years in college. At the end of the day, that’s just kind of my main deciding point.”

She raved about her recruiting trip to Auburn, the small-town feel and the coaching staff. “After my visit, I just didn’t want to leave,” she said with a laugh.

Of course, until then she has another year of high school after this one, and now seemingly more many opportunities to play Augusta National. And even with her quirky nonchalance, she does appreciate the place.

“Obviously, you hear things about Augusta and people say it’s perfect in every way,” Davis said. “And when I went there, it exceeded every expectation I had. It’s beautiful, and there’s not a single blade of grass out of place there.”

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By Jay Coffin
Anna Davis will be taking her trademark bucket hat to the LPGA.

The surprise 16-year-old winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur was given a sponsor’s exemption into the inaugural Palos Verdes Championship presented by Bank of America in California, Davis’ home state.

The event is April 28-May 1 at Palos Verdes Golf Clubs. This will be the LPGA debut for the high school student from Spring Valley.

Davis trailed by two shots heading into the final round at Augusta National but made birdies on Nos. 9, 12 and 13 before closing with a three-under 69 to win by one shot over Ingrid Lindblad and Latanna Stone. She was the only player to finish the 54-hole championship under par, and the victory vaulted her to No. 47 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Before the ANWA victory, Davis won twice last year, including a seven-stroke victory at the Girls Junior PGA. She was a member of the 2021 US Junior Solheim Cup team and is an AJGA All-American.

The other sponsor exemption for the Palos Verdes Championship is Wake Forest junior Rachel Kuehn, winner of the 2022 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge last month at Palos Verdes Golf Club.

Nine of the top 10 players in the world are scheduled to play in the event.

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“How I played in Q-School definitely aided the decision and made it a little bit easier,” Pano said. “Timing was a big thing, too. I knew I wanted to play in the Augusta Women’s Amateur. My biggest goal, ever since they announced ANWA, was to make the cut. There was no way I could turn professional without accomplishing that.”

When Pano did achieve her goal of playing the final round of ANWA — the only round of the tournament that is played at Augusta National — the next step in her career was inevitable. The 64th ranked amateur in the world has competed in all of junior and amateur golf’s top individual tournaments, as well as prestigious team events such as the Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Solheim Cup, which she says she’ll miss the most.

The timing of Pano’s decision makes sense considering the conclusion of the ANWA and her Epson Tour status. However, as soon as the news broke of the 17-year-old’s announcement, chatter began circulating: Why was the high-profile junior bypassing college?

Pano’s answer involves a rule change in NCAA recruiting that took effect on May 1, 2019. The update in regulations stated that athletic prospects could no longer take scheduled unofficial visits with college coaches until their junior year of high school. Before the NCAA put this rule into effect, players could reach out to coaches, speak to them and organise campus visits regardless of the student’s age. The rule was instituted to reduce early recruiting and give students time to make informed decisions about where they’d like to attend college.

“Before they changed the rules, when I was 12-, 13- and 14-years-old, I did do college visits. I’ve been super lucky to have been able to meet a lot of coaches,” Pano said. “I’ve actually discussed this with my dad quite a bit: If the rules hadn’t changed, I think I might have ended up committing to a college pretty early, around 14- or 15-year-old. But it turned out that the rule change gave me more time to think about my options, and that was a really good thing for me.”

For Pano, the NCAA’s new regulation served its intended purpose in giving a young athlete time to make an informed decision about her future. Just in this case, it didn’t lead her to making a decision about where to go to college — it led to her choosing to not go to college at all. Had Pano been enticed by more Division I programs as just a middle-schooler, her path may have looked different. Despite this detail, the star amateur maintains that her decision is the right one.

“Everyone has the best plan for them,” Pano said. “For some people that may be college golf, and so many people do amazing in college and then go on to do amazing things in their professional careers. But for me, turning pro now is what I think is going to work out the best.”

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By Gabrielle Herzig
A quick glance at 15-year-old Avani Prashanth’s competitive golf résumé screams “child prodigy.” Using that term to describe the native of India—who this week will become the first golfer from her country to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur—may seem like a leap. But it’s far from it: The prodigy gene runs in her family.

Prashanth first picked up a club two months shy of her fourth birthday. Around that time, MS Prashanth, Avani’s dad, wanted his own father, a retired army officer, to take up the game. Avani begged to come with the two of them. Hesitant to bring his toddler to the course, MS Prashanth was reminded by his father that several cousins in their family were prodigies in Carnatic music, a southern Indian form of classical music. Maybe Avani’s inexplicable eagerness to try her hand at golf was a sign?

A decade later, perhaps it really was. Avani has become a bit of a golf celebrity in her country, holding the highest ranking of any Indian female amateur at No. 126.

“I never really had the thought when I was little of wanting to play golf professionally. I just loved the sport from the start,” says Avani, who sits on Zoom call in front of a grandiose display of trophies over her shoulders. “Every time I won a tournament, it pushed me. I just wanted to keep winning and winning and winning.”

Prashanth shows off some of her hardware from tournament victories in India. (Photo courtesy of the Prashanth Family)

Golf is a budding game in India, and Avani’s home city, Bengaluru, with a population of 11 million, is arguably one of its biggest hotspots. According to Joy Chakravarty, former media director for the Indian PGA Tour, golf started to blossom in India in the late 1990s. The game was first popular in the northern cities of New Delhi and Chandigarh, but when Arjun Atwal became the first Indian to win on the PGA Tour in 2010 at the Wyndham Championship, it started to expand.

Avani’s home region is known as the “Silicon Valley of India.” Once large tech companies began to migrate there, the city’s two golf courses turned into six. Now Bengaluru is home to several golf academies and the majority of India’s up-and-coming players, some of whom are familiar names.

Anirban Lahiri, a Bengaluru native, brought great pride and excitement to the Indian golf community with his runner-up finish to Cameron Smith at the Players Championship earlier this month. Similarly, at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, 23-year-old Aditi Ashok sent both Bengaluru and the entire country into a frenzy with her impressive chase for a medal before finishing fourth. She even earned recognition from Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

Now, the country of 1.4 billion can root for another emerging Bengaluru star who will undoubtedly help India’s golf community flourish. “Aditi’s performance in the Olympics was very, very inspiring. So was Anirban’s performance at the Players,” Avani said. “Both of them need to play well for the game of golf to grow in India, and their performance has definitely inspired me to do well at Augusta.”

Avani’s positive yet determined mindset has propelled her during her amateur career. In 2021, the teen was the youngest player to win the All India Ladies and Amateur titles (both the stroke-play and match-play portions) and the All India Junior Girls—all in one year. At the Asia-Pacific Women’s Amateur in October, the ninth-grader finished tied for 16th, the best result by an Indian amateur making her debut. The impressive performance, as well as Avani’s two wins on India’s professional women’s tour, likely prompted her special invitation to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“When I got the call from the tournament director, I was on the 16th hole of a practice round, shooting five under from 6,500 yards,” Avani said. “He told me he has never shot that low in his life, and then broke the news to me. I was obviously very excited because I’d be playing Augusta, and no one from India has ever been invited to that tournament.”

Avani with her father, MS Prashanth, during a tournament in 2014.

Despite Avani’s small 5-foot-7, 114-pound frame, she isn’t short in the distance department. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Avani was averaging 220 yards off the tee. With the help of a makeshift at-home hitting bay and her father’s launch-monitor investment, she emerged in 2022 carrying her driver 255 to 260 yards.

Avani’s distance gains are just one factor in her ability to compete and win against older competitors. She’s constantly simulating pressured environments in her practice regimen, entering every round she plays into a strokes-gained tracking app called UpGame. Plus, at home in Bengaluru, Avani frequently plays matches with some of India’s top male amateurs.

“I mainly play with boys, especially 19- or 20-year-olds,” Avani says. “I just love how competitive it gets. Even though you are good friends, that friendship aspect goes off and you just become competitors on the course. There’s a lot of pressure playing with them. If I hit one shot badly, the hole is theirs.”

Outside of golf, Avani is very much a typical teenager. She’s busy with school work, likes to play soccer (though she stopped competing seriously a few years ago to prevent injury) and watches TV (she’s a big fan of “The Office”).

Avani’s golf peers in Bengaluru understand who they’re dealing with when she steps on the tee, but her classmates at Greenwood High International have a harder time grasping just how good she is at her extracurricular activity.

“[My friends] obviously see when I win tournaments, and they get really excited for me,” Avani said, “but they don’t really understand golf.”

Come Wednesday morning, Avani will tee it up at Champions Retreat Golf Club outside Augusta, and if she makes the ANWA’s 36-hole cut, she’ll move on to Augusta National for Saturday’s final round, which will be broadcast around the world. Golf is far from a mainstream sport in India, but Avani has brought added attention to the game simply by being invited to this event. Regardless of her performance, Avani’s classmates will be a bit more attuned to their classmate’s talent after her time in Georgia.

Graham Uden/R&A
Avani Prashanth had a top-20 finish at the Asia-Pacific Women’s Amateur in October.

The post Meet Avani Prashanth, the 15-year-old breaking barriers at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It was going to be difficult to match the drama of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur from 2019. It featured a focused, two-person duel between the players in the final group, ultimately remembered for champion Jennifer Kupcho’s back-nine charge.

Remarkably enough, the 2021 edition was arguably a better show, for entirely different reasons.

On Saturday, close to one-third in the field of 30 in the final round seemingly had a chance to win on the back nine, and it turned into a fascinating profile in golf survival. With so many in contention—there was a six-way tie at one point on the back—a playoff seemed like destiny. We got that, with Wake Forest senior Emilia Migliaccio, who shot 71, and Japanese 17-year-old Tsubasa Kajitani (72) tying with one-over 289 totals and returning to the 18th tee to start a sudden-death playoff.

From there it was over in a matter of minutes, with Migliaccio badly missing the green right with her approach, dumping her third shot into a bunker and making a bogey, while Kajitani deftly two-putted from 70 feet for par and the win.

The victory figured to be enthusiastically received in golf-crazy Japan, which had never had a winner, male or female, at the world’s most famous golf course.

“Hopefully, everybody is happy,” said Kajitani, who seemed diminutive behind the big desk in the Augusta National interview room, where she answered questions through her interpreter in near-whispers.

Every player with a chance to win on Saturday had her own stumbles, and for Kajitani, they came after she birdied the 14th and 15th holes to leapfrog the six players who previously led. But at the 17th, her approach came up far short of the green, she pitched too long and then three-putted for a double-bogey 6 that dropped her back into a tie at the top.

By that time, Magliaccio was already finished and held the clubhouse lead. She made five birdies and three bogeys, including a 6 at the par-5 13th. But she recovered with a birdie at 14 and steadily played the final four holes in par.

“I thought even [par] was going to have a chance for the playoff,” Magliaccio said. “I didn’t think that one over would. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to be in contention.”

Kevin C. Cox
Emilia Migliaccio plays her shot from the greenside bunker on the 18th green during the playoff in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

After waiting about an hour and hitting only about 10 drives on the practice range, Magliaccio and her mother, Ulrika, who served as her caddie, returned to the 18th tee, where she met up again with Kajitani. The two didn’t know each other before the event, but played the first two rounds together at Champions Retreat, where they tied with 73s in the opening round and the Japanese bested the American by two shots (72-74) in the second.

“She’s really good at working the ball with her driver,” Magliaccio said. “She can hit a draw or a cut off the tee, so that was good. She kind of just takes a practice swing and then hits it. …

“She made a lot of really good putts in Champions Retreat. They, like, hit the flagstick and went in. She had a lot of really good bombs. It was fun to watch.”

Kajitani was one of the few in the final-round field who doesn’t attend college in the U.S. Along with World No. 1 Rose Zhang, they were the youngest players in Saturday’s field. Unlike, Zhang, Kajitani hasn’t played often in America, sticking mostly to pro and amateur events in Asia, where she tied for ninth in the 2019 Japan Women’s Open Championship. She entered the ANWA at No. 26 in the world.

“To be honest, when I came to the States, I didn’t expect that that I’m going to win the tournament,” Kajitani said. “And then day by day I have been confident, and then I won the tournament, which means my World Ranking is going to be up, and hopefully I can play in another big tournament, as well, which is my dream before I came over here.”

Kajitani will have an opportunity to defend her championship next year if she remains an amateur—a different circumstance from two years ago, when Kupcho turned pro soon after the win and reached the LPGA Tour.

Six players ended up tied for third on Saturday, including co-leaders after the second round, Zhang and Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad. Zhang held the lead through the 12th hole, but her hooked drive at the 13th was lost, and she found Rae’s Creek in front of the green with her fourth shot, eventually making a triple-bogey 8. Zhang bounced back with a birdie at 14, but a bogey at 17 knocked her out of the playoff. Lindblad damaged her chances wiht a bogey at 14, three-putt for par at 15 and bogey at 16.

Denmark’s Karen Fredgaard shot four over in her last five holes, including a double bogey at 15, and misssed the playoff by one. Two others who could have reached extra holes, Rachel Heck and Emma Spitz, each bogeyed the 18th. Pauline Rousssin-Bouchard had the wildest round of the day, making seven birdies to go with five bogeys, and her birdie putt on the 18th hole to make the playoff burned the edge and stayed out.

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By Joel Beall
Augusta National Golf Club announced Tuesday that the club intends to have a limited number of patrons in attendance at the 2021 Masters.

In a statement, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said by conducting similar health and safety protocols to those at the 2020 tournament in November—which was held without patrons and watched only on-site by media, club members and players’ families—the club is confident it can welcome fans safely back on the Augusta National premises.

“Nothing is, or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved,” Ridley said. “While we are disappointed that we will be unable to accommodate a full complement of patrons this year, we will continue our efforts to ensure that all who purchased tickets from Augusta National will have access in 2022, provided conditions improve.”

No specific number of patrons was mentioned in the release and nor was there a mention of whether patrons who do attend will be subject to specific testing in order to be allowed on the course.

At November’s Masters, Ridley had mentioned the need for increased testing measures to welcome fans to the Masters, an area the club was actively exploring.

“Our staff has been exploring those very deeply, and we have a number of people who are very interested in helping us,” Ridley said in November. “And so I think that’s something that we will really be looking hard at, is that capability—it already has developed, but as it continues to develop. That would certainly be a wonderful circumstance if we could test large numbers of people.”

Ridley also announced that the club intends to conduct the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (March 31-April 3) and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals (April 4) as scheduled. These competitions were postponed last year due to the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both events intend to host a small number of patrons.

The club said it is in the process of communicating with all badge holders of record, and refunds will be issued to those patrons not selected to attend.

The 2021 Masters is scheduled to begin on April 8. Dustin Johnson is the defending champ.

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By Joel Beall
The Coronavirus pandemic has hit a giant pause button on fans being able to watch golf on TV, and in some cases, even kept people off courses. But while we hunker down and hope for a speedy return to normalcy, we can also use this time as an opportunity to learn more about the game we love. Here’s our latest instalment of “Did you know?”

In 2019 the Augusta National Golf Club launched the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. But it’s not the only time a tournament other than the Masters was played on the hallowed Georgia property.

In 1937 and 1938, Augusta National served as host for the PGA Seniors’ Championship. The tournament, which debuted in 1937, was brought to Augusta National by co-founder Bobby Jones, who thought the event would be a platform to honour the pioneers who came before him. Jones asked the club’s board of governors to alter its bylaws to allow another tournament to be played at Augusta National.

“They all feel as I do, that they are glad to make an exception to an established policy in order to make a gesture of appreciation to those members of your association who have contributed much to golf in this country,” Jones said.

It was supposed to be more of a celebration rather than a competitive tournament. There was a practice round and three 54-hole tournaments, divided by ages groups: 50-54, 55-59 and 60-plus. Jock Hutchison won the inaugural Senior PGA over 36 other players with a seven-over 223, while Fred McLeod won the rain-shortened 1938 event in an 18-hole playoff over Otto Hackbarth, after Hackbarth three-putted the 17th and 18th in regulation. (Related note: “Hackbarthed” should be the new term for “three-jack.”).

The tournament moved to warmer confines in 1939, but the spirit of the Senior PGA was brought back with the introduction of the Honorary Starters in 1963, with Hutchison and McLeod serving as the ceremonial strikers.

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By Joel Beall
Golf fans are mostly grateful at Monday’s joint announcement from the game’s governing bodies, in which they offer hope that three of the four men’s majors and the Ryder Cup can still be played in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, as the sport does its best to salvage as many events as possible, more high-profile tournaments have become causalities of the schedule crunch.

At the forefront of these cancellations is the Open Championship. Four days after Golf Digest reported that the Open was not expected to be played this season, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers officially announced the world’s oldest tournament had been called off for 2020.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing the Open this year, but it is not going to be possible,” Slumbers said.

Slumbers later remarked it would have been “unreasonable” to “rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organizations” given the demands of the COVID-19 outbreak. Conversely, part of the reason the championship is being cancelled—rather than postponed as is the case for the other three men’s majors—is because of insurance, a source told Golf Digest last week. Similar to Wimbledon, the R&A has a policy that shields against a global pandemic.

It marks the first time the Open will not have been played since 1945, when it was cancelled because of World War II. Slumbers said Royal St. George’s will now be the venue for the 2021 Open Championship and the Old Course at St. Andrews will host in 2022 rather than 2021. The Women’s British Open remains on the LPGA schedule, slotted for Aug. 20, while the R&A and USGA had already postponed this year’s Curtis Cup until 2021.

Next is the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Although the Masters will be held in November, the club has decided it would have to wait until 2021 to follow up the event’s 2019 debut. “Ultimately, the many scheduling challenges with NCAA tournaments, the World Amateur Team Championships, the LPGA Q-Series and other events when women’s amateur golf resumes led to this decision,” Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement.

Ridley did clarify that each player who accepted an invitation for the 2020 championship will be welcomed to compete in the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, provided they remain an amateur. That might mean increasing the field in 2021 beyond the 72 players expected to play this year.

Likewise, the USGA has scrubbed two of its majors, the U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Women’s Open, for 2020. The 41st U.S. Senior Open had been scheduled for June 25-28 at Newport (R.I.) Country Club and now will be played at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club from July 8-11, 2021. The 3rd U.S. Senior Women’s Open, had been scheduled to take place July 9-12 at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn.

“Canceling this year’s Senior Open championships was a very difficult decision to make,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis. “Not only are they important pillars of our championship schedule, but we also value our relationships with both Newport Country Club and Brooklawn Country Club and were looking forward to staging incredible events there this summer. Given the ongoing health and safety issues related to COVID-19 and the significant consolidation of schedules into the back half of 2020, including the postponement of the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Open, we felt it necessary to make these unfortunate adjustments to our 2020 championship plans.”

The USGA’s first two scheduled championships for 2020, the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Women’s Amateur Fourball, were cancelled on March 17. The USGA stated it will continue to rely on CDC and WHO recommendations in determining schedule considerations for its remaining eight 2020 amateur championships. The U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y. has been postponed until Sept. 17; the U.S. Women’s Open, originally scheduled for June 4-7 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, will now be played Dec. 10-13.

The PGA of America announced last week that its Senior PGA Championship, scheduled for May 21-24 at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Mich., has been cancelled. “While we are incredibly disappointed, we all understand that protecting public health is the highest priority,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said. For the moment, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is scheduled to go on as planned for June 25-28 at Aronimink in Newton Square, Pa.

The PGA Tour could see additional cancellations to its calendar, but as of now, the Tour has only announced it’s moving its regular-season finale, the Wyndham Championship, and all three FedEx Cup Playoff events one week later, starting the week of Aug. 10 and concluding with a Monday, Sept. 7 finish for the Tour Championship. The Tour is also working to reschedule tournaments into the weeks formerly occupied by the U.S. Open, British Open and men’s Olympic golf competition in June and July.

As for the European Tour, the Old World circuit released little information in the joint statement. The Scandinavian Mixed scheduled to begin June 11 and the D+D Real Czech Masters slotted for Aug. 20 have already been cancelled, but the European Tour only added more details about its schedule would be coming “of due course.”

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By Keely Levins
Jennifer Kupcho is a part of golf history. The Saturday before the 2019 Masters, the world’s top-ranked women’s amateur was among a field of 30 cut from 72 to play the final round of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Kupcho’s tee shot on Wednesday had opened the two rounds of competition at Champions Retreat Golf Club before the tournament’s final round at Augusta National.

What was a stroke-play event felt like match play as attention was focused on the final pairing featuring Wake Forest’s Kupcho and Arkansas’ Maria Fassi.

The two were the only collegiate players to make it through 2018 LPGA Tour Q school and defer their status until after they graduated last spring. Kupcho was mesmerising on the back nine at Augusta, overcoming a migraine to go five-under par on the final six holes, shooting 67 to win by four strokes. She went on to graduate, join the LPGA, and finish the season 39th on the money list. Nearly a year later, after moving from Colorado to Arizona, she spoke with us about the round that changed her life.

How did you first hear about the tournament at Augusta National, and what was your reaction?

I heard about it when they announced it during the 2018 Masters. I was really excited, and then we all realized it was at the same time as the ANA Inspiration [a major on the LPGA Tour that includes top amateurs], so I wasn’t sure how that would work out. Everyone had questions about that. But I was excited to try to qualify and hopefully have the opportunity to play.

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How did you choose between the two?

I received the invite to the ANWA first and actually turned it down. We had, I think, five regular-season college tournaments booked up straight into Augusta, and I would just miss so much school, there was no way I could do it. But then my college coach [Kim Lewellen] canceled one of the tournaments, so I was like, OK, I could make this work. Around the end of January, I called [the director of golf development] and asked if I could play. They had a spot in the field and said I was more than welcome to play. The ANA invite came a week later, and I told them that I’d be at Augusta.

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What was it like arriving at Augusta National? Had you been there before?

The year before, I played Augusta with my Wake Forest team. Growing up, I’d never thought playing there was even an option. At the ANWA, we didn’t go to the Augusta National grounds until the chairman’s dinner on Tuesday. I think the way it was scheduled built up so much excitement in everyone. We just wanted to be on the grounds.

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What did you get to see?

Everyone in the tournament got to see the clubhouse, locker room, Crow’s Nest, and got a tour of the grounds. With Arnold Palmer having gone to Wake Forest, it was really special to see things like his locker there. I didn’t get to see Butler Cabin, the media center and the tunnels until I won.

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I’m sure it helped to have played the course before the tournament (in addition to the practice round on Friday before Saturday’s finish)?

Definitely. I had already experienced that awe factor. So by the time I got there for the practice round, I could focus on learning the course instead of looking around being like, Oh my gosh, this is so cool! Obviously, you still feel like that, but the effect was less.

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Like others in the field, you switched to a local caddie once you got to Augusta National. Was it a tough decision?

It was really hard. Showing up to the practice round at Augusta, after my dad caddied the first two rounds, we were just going to see how it went. I had my same caddie in the practice round that I played with the year before. Going through the course it was clear how much Brian [McKinley] knew that there’s no way you could ever write it all down in a yardage book. Like knowing differences in slopes, knowing all the yardage markers by memory, knowing the greens, all of the breaks—he knew everything about the course. Then my dad and I knew it was a no-brainer. The funny part is, I told the media before I had the conversation with my dad. There’s no hurt feelings, but at the time he was like, “You could’ve told me first.” But I was like, “Well, the media was asking, so I just gave them the answer.”

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There had to be moments during the tournament that you were happy you had a local caddie?

He was a huge role in my success in that round. The read on my eagle putt on 13, I saw it going the other way, and he was like, “No way.” He was right. That was a big one [the eagle giving Kupcho a share of the led with Fassi]. And then the whole three holes of my migraine, I just leaned on him to read the greens and tell me where to at least attempt to hit it.

‘It really encourages girls to pick up a club. To see us be able to do it on the biggest stage, Augusta National, was huge.’

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What does it feel like when you get a migraine?

I had them a lot in high school. I got used to it. I’d play basketball games and golf tournaments with migraines. But the one at Augusta was my first since high school. When I first get them, it’s really blurry; I can’t see. As the blurry vision goes away, I get a massive, pounding headache. It started on the eighth green and didn’t go away until the 11th tee shot.

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How have you tried to make them go away?

I take a caffeine pill, drink lots of water, take pain medicine, take deep breaths and close my eyes. During the ninth and 10th holes, I walked down most of the fairway with my eyes closed. I told my caddie what was going on. I think he was worried but tried to stay calm because he didn’t want to freak me out.

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How hard was it to hit a shot with limited vision?

After so many hours of practicing, it becomes muscle memory. It’s blurry, but from practicing I can know approximately where the ball is.

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Was that the hardest thing you’ve experienced in a tournament?

Yes, just because there was so much on the line. When it happened I was like, Why now? Why does this have to happen to me now?

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Do you have an idea what caused it?

My mom and I talked about it after. We were pretty sure it was dehydration. Something that we realized in high school was that if I ate a lot of chocolate, I got migraines. That whole week there was so much sugar everywhere, so that could’ve been it.

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What’s your favourite shot you hit during that round?

My two favourites were the hybrids on 13 and 15. Thirteen because it led to my eagle. Fifteen was so cool because I play a fade, but standing over the ball, I was like, Screw it, I’m going to try to hit a draw. I don’t know what I was thinking, taking a risk during the biggest moment of my career. But adrenaline took over, and I was like, I’m totally going to pull this shot off. And it worked—I was just over the green in two and two-putted for birdie.

Donald Miralle

What was the best moment of the week?

Walking up to the first tee and seeing how many people were there. Everyone was so excited to see us play; that was insane. I had never played in that type of situation. Getting to experience it with friends I’d made in college golf, knowing we were the first women to compete there, was really special.

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Did you stay in Augusta after the win?

I gave out trophies to the Drive, Chip and Putt winners alongside Patrick Reed the next day. Then that afternoon I flew to New York with Maria, and we were on the “Today” show and Jimmy Fallon, and then I had to go back to class. Going back to campus, I was trying to balance school and golf and get back to being with my team, but with so many media requests it was hard. I had no idea what was going to happen or how to prepare for it. It all came in a rush. Trying to practice and get ready [for the ACC Championship two weeks later], and do everything I needed to do to be ready, was definitely a battle. But it was so cool to see how the tournament blew up.

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What did the win mean to you?

It was huge. Obviously, I still had college tournaments left, but it was the end of my amateur golf and then the beginning of my professional career, marking me moving on from one section of my life to another. It really helped me be comfortable playing in front of crowds, and it helped me calm my nerves under pressure.

What do you think it meant for women’s golf?

It was a great display for younger girls, whether they’re participating in golf already or just watching it on television because their parents have it on. For them to see the way everything played out, the friendship that Maria and I have, it really encourages girls to pick up a club. To see us be able to do it on the biggest stage, Augusta National, was huge.

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Have you ben back since the tournament?

I haven’t. It’d be cool to go and relive all those memories and walk down the fairways again. I’ve watched the coverage a couple times. It’s crazy watching it—to see what the cameras see, and know what I was thinking during specific shots or moments, it’s surreal.

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Did you learn something at Augusta that has helped you transition into professional golf?

I went in relaxed. I realize now that was a big part in my success. I used to go into tournaments stressed out, focusing on things that were going wrong. At ANWA, I was just experiencing it and having fun. That’s one of the big things that I’ve carried over to my professional career. If something doesn’t go right, I know I’ll figure it out and make it up in another part of my game.

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