Augusta Opens Play For Female Amateurs, But The Scheduling Poses Problems
Augusta National is making progress to include more groups to play their course. The latest historical announcement is the club will host the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship just prior to the wildly popular Drive, Chip and Putt contest and The Masters in 2019.
Its a masterful PR stroke by opening the hallowed gates to more groups and shows the club’s once Neanderthal thinking is changing with the modern times.
“Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts left behind a legacy of always trying to contribute meaningfully to the game of golf,” Ridley said. “The Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship embodies that principle, and we believe this event will have a significant and lasting impact on the future of the women’s game. Our hope and expectation is that this event will further energize those who already love the sport and inspire others through the dream of competing at Augusta National.”
Yet, as the Morning Read’s Steve Elling reports, the scheduling could cause headaches for college coaches.
Talent-laden UCLA is the No. 1 team in Golfstat’s NCAA Division I women’s rankings and is well-positioned to make a run at the title this year. So, when coach Carrie Forsyth’s phone blew up early Wednesday morning as the coaching grapevine learned that Augusta National had unexpectedly announced a new event for top female amateurs, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, her initial reaction was somewhat mixed.
“As a women’s college coach, I’m excited about the opportunity for some of our players to play at Augusta National,” Forsyth said. “But obviously, the timing is not ideal, coming right in the championship segment of our season.”
The majority of Augusta’s new three-day, 72-player field will be composed of players from the World Amateur Golf Ranking, which is loaded with collegians. It didn’t take long for Forsyth to count how many of her players are among the WAGR’s top 50.
“That would be four,” she said, pausing before delivering the punchline, “of our starting five.”
Forsyth said that college coaches were caught off-guard by the announcement. Who wasn’t? After repeatedly insisting that Augusta National had no intention of sponsoring a women’s event, including as recently as 2015 Masters week, the club reversed its position Wednesday morning when first-year chairman Fred Ridley announced the formation of the 54-hole event. The final 18 holes will be contested at Augusta National next April 6, the Saturday before 2019 Masters week begins for the male professionals.
“How do you not play Augusta National, in what might be your only chance, especially when it’s in tournament shape, right before the Masters?” said Gaston, her excitement obvious.
Something tells me they’ll figure it out as the opportunity is too significant to bypass. Most anyone would change plans for the chance to play there.
