AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Augusta National Women’s Amateur is not just having a moment. This is the tournament’s reality, only five years into its existence.
Morgan Pressel, the LPGA major champion turned Golf Channel analyst, doesn’t hesitate to call it the most “impactful” event in women’s golf. USC junior Amari Avery even goes as far as to say the tournament feels “bigger than the U.S. Women’s Open,” an event she’s participated in twice and has been held since 1946.
ANWA has been a big deal since its inception, announced by Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley in 2018 — a 54-hole championship with the best female amateurs in the world, two rounds at nearby Champions Retreat Golf Club and the final round at the site of the Masters. Five championships later (2020 was canceled due to the pandemic), it has reached another level.
Since Jennifer Kupcho triumphed over Maria Fassi in a neck-and-neck battle down the stretch at the inaugural playing of the event in 2019, the ANWA has crowned star champions year after year, leading to additional support and coverage. Golf Channel added live broadcasts of the first two tournament rounds at Champions Retreat in 2023. Legendary sportscaster Mike Tirico will commentate Saturday’s final round at Augusta National on NBC. According to the network, the three-hour ANWA TV window brings in roughly 1 million viewers on average (excluding last year’s final round which experienced significant weather interruptions.) The popular Live From Golf Channel show also kicks off early on Friday, with analyst Brandel Chamblee talking ANWA and the Masters. The influx of credentialed writers and TV personnel prompted the press conference room at Champions Retreat to be converted into additional media center workstations.
In just five short years, the ANWA has outdone itself. What does that mean for the tournament’s future?
“The next step, right, is maybe we play all three days (at Augusta National)? I’m not sitting here thinking that it needs to change — it’s the best event in women’s amateur golf. But yeah, why not all three days there?” says Emilia Miggliaccio. The Wake Forest graduate has teed it up in all five iterations of ANWA.
Three rounds of competition at Augusta National between the top female amateurs in the world: Will it ever happen?
“That’s above my pay grade,” Pressel says.
Practice round perfection 🌸#ANWAgolf pic.twitter.com/kjsAuXLU7h
— Augusta National Women’s Amateur (@anwagolf) April 5, 2024
Championship courses once closed off to top women’s tournaments are now welcoming them. In 2022, the women’s British Open was hosted at Muirfield for the first time. The Scottish club has held 16 men’s Open Championships throughout its history and didn’t accept female members until 2019. Last summer, Pebble Beach hosted the U.S. Women’s Open — the first women’s major to be played at the oceanside course. In 10 years, the Curtis Cup (the female amateur equivalent to the Ryder Cup) is coming to Pine Valley, the top-ranked New Jersey club that has only hosted a handful of tournaments and didn’t allow women to join as members until 2021.
“I say this all the time, even in women’s professional golf — venues matter. I don’t think there’s a bigger example of that than the Augusta National Women’s Amateur,” Pressel adds.
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The idea of playing all three tournament rounds at Augusta is feasible logistically. The way the event is organized, all 72 members of the ANWA field already get to play a practice round on Friday.
Then, during the Drive, Chip and Putt contest for 7-15-year-olds on Sunday, many past champions of the Masters take advantage of one of their winner’s perks: playing the course with one guest — typically a friend or a relative — just days before the tournament starts. Augusta National members can also book tee times for their final chance to play before tournament week. If the course can withstand those traditions, it can surely hold up for the best amateur players in the world for two more days.
“I feel like they can figure anything out,” Miggliaccio says, a not incorrect assumption about a club that spent millions to lengthen its 13th hole by 35 yards and had fallen trees removed within hours after a nasty storm just last year. “I think that might be the next step.”
That said, there’s no public indication that change is imminent.
Champions Retreat, the 27-hole property designed by the trio of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, was acquired by new management, Arcis Golf, in October. Arcis holds a portfolio of nearly 70 golf courses, including the recent addition of Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Arcis CEO Blake Walker stood on the tee box next to Ridley as ANWA competitors Kiara Romero, Lauren Kim and Caitlyn Macnab hit the opening tee shots of the championship on Wednesday. Walker says his relationship with AGNC has “exceeded his expectations” so far. But when it comes to the future of ANWA at Champions Retreat, Walker is living in the present.
“I really can’t,” Walker says when asked if he can speak to the future of ANWA. “That’s an Augusta National decision in terms of what they do on a go-forward basis. … We’re just happy to be a part of it.”
AGNC declined to comment for this story.
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Champions Retreat has arguably solidified itself as a key piece of the championship. Those first two rounds, despite being 15 miles down the road, add an almost overwhelming sense of tension as the week goes on and the minutes until Augusta National tee times dwindle.
The players generally appreciate the opportunity to pass a difficult test before stepping foot on Augusta National’s hallowed grounds. And that challenge could get even better in the years to come. After surveying membership and assessing the club throughout ANWA week, Walker already has some improvements in mind for the course and the practice facilities.
“I’ve had this discussion with my friends and coaches a lot,” Avery says. “Champions Retreat is a good course to have the first two rounds because it separates the good players from the OK players. You want the best of the best playing in that final round. If we played three rounds at Augusta, it almost feels too close to the Masters. It’s nice to have that separation. It makes the final round feel exclusive.”
The players don’t circle this event on their calendars and pose for pictures with their personalized green invitations for Champions Retreat, though. The chance to achieve greatness lies behind the gates on Magnolia Lane.
“That’s kind of why you come here,” Lottie Woad, the tournament’s 36-hole leader says, before detailing the breathing exercises she’ll employ on the first tee.
Rose Zhang won the ANWA in a playoff in 2023, with a large group of patrons watching the final round. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
On Thursday afternoon, as the cut line wavered in brutally windy conditions, players walked off the 18th-hole par-5 with one of two looks on their faces: Sweet relief or stinging disappointment.
Several competitors embraced their families in tears, thoughts of pushed tee shots or lipped-out putts lingering in their short-term memories. Those wounds will take a while to heal.
Others finished their rounds with confident fist pumps and a pep in their stride. Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio exited the 18th green after a birdie-par finish to remain safely inside the cut line and was immediately greeted by a slice of cake to celebrate her 19th birthday. Nearby, Germany’s Helen Briem buried her face into a family member’s shoulder after following her opening round 71 with a 78, missing the cut by two strokes.
That range of emotions is unique to this event. It’s unique to Augusta National.
The smiles largely returned for all on Friday, as the field convened for an unconventional pause in competition. The players teed off in threesomes for an official practice round at Augusta. Some girls played birdie games. Others prepped their yardage books. Several players took on the Par 3 Course to cap off the day.
“There’s a lot of girls and women that would love to be in our shoes on the 1st tee tomorrow and have the opportunity to play in this event,” says ANWA contender Hannah Darling. “It’s 100 percent a privilege.”
One that can only get bigger and better.
(Top photo: Warren Little / Getty Images)
