“There’s very few places in America that have a bed big enough for me, but I’ve gotten used to that.”
It has been a good start to the week for Georgia Tech senior Christo Lamprecht.
The top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking won the Georgia Cup on Sunday, a matchup against Nick Dunlap that pits the defending U.S. Amateur champ against the defending British Amateur winner. Lamprecht nailed a 14-foot eagle putt on the final hole at the Golf Club of Georgia to win 1 up.
Then, the duo headed to Augusta National Golf Club for the 2024 Masters. Although only Lamprecht remains an amateur, they both will make their debut at the 88th edition of the Masters.
“It’s my first time coming to the Masters,” Lamprecht said. “I promised myself the first time I come here is when I play, not come and watch. So this is so cool. It’s so fun. I have a bunch of friends from home that flew over. It’s fun to have some family and friends around. It’s pretty special.”
Lamprecht, at 6-foot-8, is one of five amateurs in the field. That means he has a couple special privileges this week others won’t be able to enjoy.
On Monday, it was the annual Amateur Dinner, where he and the other four ams got to enjoy a dinner with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley. Then, Lamprecht got to partake in another tradition reserved for amateurs: staying a night in the Crow’s Nest.
It’s a room that is reserved for amateurs the week of the Masters. Measuring only 30 feet by 40 feet, the tight space is historic sitting above the Augusta National clubhouse.
“The Crow’s Nest is going to be fun,” Lamprecht said. “Only night I’ll be staying here, but I’m looking forward to it. Just sitting around with a bunch of amateurs and talking about our experiences and stuff, just being little kids in a toy store.”
Amateurs at the Masters usually spend one night, if not more, in the Crow’s Nest. But it’s not going to be comfy for Lamprecht, who looks like he belongs on a basketball court as much as he does a golf course.
“There’s very few places in America that have a bed big enough for me, but I’ve gotten used to that,” Lamprecht, from South Africa, said. “It’s probably the best uncomfortable sleep I’ll ever have in my life. Yeah, I’m just fortunate to be here.”
Fans may remember Lamprecht from the 2023 Open Championship when he held a share of the first-round lead after the opening day and finished as the low amateur.
Time will tell if he’s able to hoist the Silver Cup, given to the low amateur at the Masters, come Sunday.
Amateurs have made some memorable runs at the Masters.
Amateurs have always been a major part of the Masters.
From the Amateur Dinner to the Crow’s Nest and Silver Cup, amateurs at the Masters are a focal point of the week at Augusta National Golf Club. They have made some memorable runs throughout the history of the event, including Sam Bennett in 2023, eventually finishing T-14.
Although an amateur has never won the Masters, 11 have finished inside the top 10, including three runner-up finishes. The best finish this century was Ryan Moore is 2005 at T-11 and Casey Wittenberg in 2004 at T-13.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bailey Shoemaker rewrote the record book Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club.
The University of Southern California freshman put together a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 to finish runner-up in the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. It was the lowest final round in the history of the tournament.
Not bad for a first competitive round at Augusta, though it’s important to note she was also a Drive, Chip & Putt finalist in 2018.
Even though she was the clubhouse leader at 7 under for much of the afternoon, it wasn’t enough to overcome Florida State sophomore Lottie Woad. Woad finished birdie-birdie, sealing the deal on No. 18 to take the crown. Despite not winning, nothing is taken away from Shoemaker’s historic round.
“I’m obviously disappointed, but at the end of the day, I played about as good as I could have,” she said. “Maybe a couple of putts could have dropped. But I made just about everything too. It is what it is.”
The 19-year-old came into Saturday four shots off the lead. While she may not have had a record-breaking round in mind, she knew she needed to play well.
“I didn’t have a set score in my head, but I thought around 3-under would be pretty good,” she said. “Everybody wants to win, but I was just hoping for a top five or a good finish this week. Once the putts started going in, I thought there might be a chance. So I just kept it rolling.”
Shoemaker finished with 33s on both the first and second nines, highlighted by a birdie on the par-3 No. 16. She finished the afternoon with six birdies and no bogeys.
“On 16, I was in between clubs. I went up a club,” she said. “I was trying to get like five yards right, go up,take the hill, pulled it. Good club, I guess. Just barely carried on the front edge, and it was good. A nice little birdiefrom five feet.”
This was Shoemaker’s first made ANWA cut in three tries, and she’s taking a mature approach to the outcome, even though it didn’t go the way she may have envisioned.
“Just another opportunity where I’ve been in the hunt and in position to win a tournament,” she said. “It’s been a while for me, but it’s OK. Especially at Augusta National, it was fun. It was exciting. Good test of pressure for myself, I feel like. It’s always good to put yourself in that position and see how you perform.”
Many of the lessons learned this week will come in handy during the rest of her season at USC.
“I learned that I can be patient and I can take a moment. Really been working on sport psych and just letting go, accepting, just whatever happens, happens,” she said. “Once you get to the next shot, nothing’s happened before that and just really got to focus on the next one. I was really proud of myself today. I was super patient. Forgot what was happening almost, just focused on what’s happening right now. Not worried about the future or what’s happened in the past.”
The 61-year-old serves as England’s national coach and works as the performance guru for countryman Matt Fitzpatrick.
Following the win, Robinson was quick to jab at Fitzpatrick’s longtime looper, Billy Foster.
“I can’t wait to tell Billy Foster, ‘Caddying isn’t all that hard,’” Robinson said. “I mean, what a proper finish. I’ve known Lottie since she was 14, and she’s always had the attributes to be the best player she could be.”
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur continues to grow and get better.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur continues to grow and get better.
Introduced in 2019, it gave the world’s top female amateurs a shot at playing Augusta National Golf Club in what has become one of the premier amateur events on the calendar. And for the first time this year, players have a chance to participate in one of the signature highlights of Masters week.
During Friday’s practice round at Augusta National, ANWA participants were also able to play the Par 3 Course for the first time. The nine-hole layout was redesigned before the 2023 Masters, which rerouted holes 1-5 and took out trees for better patron viewing experiences.
Kokoro Nakamura of Japan putts on the No. 9 green on the Par 3 course during a practice round for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 5, 2024. Chloe Knott/Augusta National
And on Friday, every ANWA participants, even those who didn’t make the putt, got to add the Par 3 Course to their practice-round experience.
Get an early look at Augusta National before the Masters.
It’s time for Augusta National Golf Club to take the spotlight.
The 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur has moved to Augusta National, with a Friday practice round for all 72 golfers in the field. Come Saturday, it’s time for the final round, where the 35 who made the cut will battle it out on the famed grounds for one of the biggest amateur titles in the world.
For the first time, all participants will be able to play the Par 3 Course during the practice round Friday. It’s the first time many will get a look at the revamped layout. It’s also an opportunity for those who get to play on Saturday to get their final prep work in.
“It’s crazy how much pressure people feel at this level to go pro.”
EVANS, Ga. — Emilia Migliaccio was a teenager when she first came to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Now, she’s a 24-year-old married woman with several jobs in television broadcasting and a part-time amateur player who just remarkably beat a bunch of full-time players to snag another tee time at Augusta National on Saturday.
Migliaccio’s road to becoming the only player to tee it up on all five editions of the ANWA was, as she says, not a straight line. After thinking in a straight line for so long – the steps of her golf career ascending naturally, almost inevitably, to the LPGA – life took a drastic turn.
Migliaccio decided not to pursue professional golf, just as 2017 NCAA champion Monica Vaughn had done a few years prior. Rachel Heck, the 2022 NCAA champion, recently announced her plans to forgo a professional career in a poignant essay.
“It’s crazy how much pressure people feel at this level to go pro,” said 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle.
When Castle won the Women’s Amateur, she had no thoughts of turning pro. But suddenly people were asking if she planned to finish the year.
“What do you mean am I going to finish the year?” Castle would say. “I’m going to finish the next three.”
While Castle, a fifth-year senior at Kentucky, does now plan to turn professional in May, she understands and respects why her Curtis Cup teammates have made other plans.
In fact, Castle believes that Heck’s essay detailing her decision will change lives.
“She’s inspiring a lot of other people to do other things,” said Castle.
Monica Vaughn and Janet Mao
When Monica Vaughn Fisher withdrew from LPGA Q-School seven years ago, she became the first NCAA champion to forgo a professional career before it even started since the NCAA started crowning them in 1982.
Fisher worked as a college coach at Oregon before taking a job in fundraising and becoming a mom to son Cosmos. Growing up playing volleyball and basketball in high school, Vaughn loved being part of a team. Professional golf was never really the goal.
Heck, however, wanted to be the best in the world. That was the goal from an early age. But as the injuries piled on and she found other interests, Heck began to realize that she didn’t want the lifestyle of a professional golfer. She didn’t want to live on the road and in the public eye. She no longer dreamed of winning a U.S. Women’s Open and getting into the LPGA Hall of Fame. What’s more, she realized that those dreams were never what her dad had intended when he first put a club in her hand.
On Thursday at Champions Retreat, the tears flowed as a crushing finish down the stretch cost Heck one more Saturday round with dad at Augusta National. She took a few extra minutes to compose herself before meeting with the press.
“I mean, it’s not the way you want to see it end,” she said.
The golf isn’t over, of course. Heck still plans to compete in amateur golf and, as she does, she’ll be a reminder of another path.
“I think we always tried to be balanced,” said Heck’s father, Robert. “Sports in general and golf, in particular, are very fickle. Even when she was on top, we knew it could end at any point.”
The Hecks wanted to make sure that Rachel had other interests, and she found plenty. When she graduates from Stanford this spring, she’ll also be pinned as a Lieutenant of the United States Air Force.
In recent days, Heck’s peers have approached to say thank you for being a voice that says golf isn’t everything. Parents have reached out to say how helpful they found her words.
“All that has meant the world,” she said.
Emilia Migliaccio of the United States talks with her caddie on the second hole during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 03, 2021 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
When Migliaccio’s not calling golf, she often finds herself talking to young players who want advice on weighing their options. Professional golf is a lonely road, and as Castle points out, a difficult one for those wanting to start a family.
Tour veteran Amy Olson once said she believed more people struggle on tour because of a lack of community and loneliness than a technical problem in their swing or putting stroke.
For many, there’s no doubt that money plays a big role. The majority of college players who decide to turn pro will spend their first few years on the Epson Tour spending more money than they make.
“They don’t want to put their parents in debt,” said FSU coach Amy Bond, “and they don’t want to be in debt.”
To see decorated players like Heck, Migliaccio and Vaughn walk away from the grind of professional golf gives players of all levels permission to ask tough questions of themselves and have perhaps even tougher conversations with family.
With so many of today’s young players specializing in the game so early, Bond also notes that it’s easy to see how their hearts and their bodies simply get tired.
“People are falling out of love with the game as they keep going,” she said.
Amanda Sambach of the United States prior to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat Golf Club, Monday, April 1, 2024. (Photo: Shanna Lockwood/Augusta National)
Virginia’s Amanda Sambach enters the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three back of Lottie Woad. The former ACC champion said she can relate to Heck’s words.
“Obviously golf has brought me so far,” said Sambach in the lead-up to the ANWA.
“I mean, I love golf … but the thought of trying and traveling by myself for years and years and years without having your whole heart in the sport – the thought of it is scary to me.”
The 21-year-old junior isn’t sure how long she’ll give golf a try after she graduates, but she already knows that her family will support whatever decision she makes. If golf isn’t the future, she’d like to go into the medical field.
One thing is certain: There are options.
“You can still compete,” said Migliaccio, “but it doesn’t have to be your whole life.”
“He changed to a mallet and won two in a row, so I’m like, why not me?”
Seventeen-year-old Eila Galitsky switched to a mallet putter for one reason: Scottie Scheffler. Galistky, who is currently contending at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur after an opening 5-under 67, made the switch less than a week ago.
“He changed to a mallet and won two in a row, so I’m like, why not me?” she explained.
The new mallet putter, she said, has given her a confidence on the greens she hasn’t had before. Combine that with an average carry distance of 265 yards off the tee, and the South Carolina commit is becoming a force to reckon with in the amateur game.
The Thai player won the 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific to earn a spot in last year’s field but said she wasn’t prepared for the weather conditions she found in Georgia and missed the cut. This year, she traveled over early and played in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley beforehand to acclimate and tied for third.
At last year’s Chevron Championship, Galitsky tied for 28th and earned low amateur honors.
Top-ranked Scheffler debuted the TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and won by five, leading the field in strokes gained putting. Then he won again at the Players Championship and is the undisputed favorite heading into the Masters.
“I think every one of them thinks they have a chance.”
EVANS, Ga. — At this time last year, it was Rose Zhang celebration week at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Virginia’s Amanda Sambach wasn’t sure whether she should say this part out loud, but with Zhang in the field, it felt a bit like everyone was playing for second.
“This year,” said Sambach, the 2023 ACC champ, “I think there’s a lot up for grabs.”
Now in its fifth edition, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur boasts a major winner among its past champions in Jennifer Kupcho along with Zhang, who became the first player since Beverly Hanson in 1951 to win on the LPGA in her first professional start at the Mizuho Americas Open. Anna Davis, the super chill Auburn freshman who won this event as a 16-year-old two years ago, is the only former champion in the field.
This year’s seasoned field of 72 includes seven players who finished in the top 10 in 2024.
“I think every one of them thinks they have a chance,” said Florida State head coach Amy Bond, “and that it’s a wide open field. There’s no pure favorite.”
Forty-three players have competed previously in the ANWA, including Emilia Migliaccio, the only one to receive an invitation to all five events. Migliaccio, who lost in a playoff here in 2021, finished up her time at Wake Forest last spring with an NCAA team title.
After deciding to forgo professional golf, she has been trying to fit in a little practice in between her television work. The now married 24-year-old worked three tournaments in a row in the beginning of March – the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate for Golf Channel and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship for PGA Tour Live.
“When I work in studio, there is a golf course that’s right by the hotel,” said Migliaccio, “so we get like an hour break so I’ll hit for 20 minutes in my first break and my second break, I’ll putt for 30. That’s how I’ve been practicing on the road.
“Obviously not a whole lot of time. I feel like I am getting creative on keeping my practice efficient, and then the last week and a half before ANWA I spent every day on the golf course, six seven hours playing a ton because haven’t had a lot of opportunities to play.”
The format for this year’s event remains the same, with the first two days held on Champions Retreat Golf Club on the Island and Bluffs nines. Many players actually consider Champions Retreat a tougher test than Augusta National.
The field will be cut to the top 30 and ties after Thursday’s round. Then the entire field will head to Augusta National for a practice round. This marks the first year the field will have a chance to play the Par 3 Course.
With thunderstorms forecasted for Wednesday morning, tee times might be pushed back for the opening round.
“I think this course plays different every year that I’ve come back,” said Rachel Kuehn, who is making her fourth appearance. Kuehn said she has never seen greens roll as perfectly as they do at Champions Retreat.
Asterisk Talley, 15, is the youngest player in the field, having celebrated a birthday on Feb. 15. Migliaccio, who turns 25 on April 24, is the oldest.
LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad chipped in for eagle on the par-5 eighth at Augusta National last year and birdied the ninth to finish up her Friday practice round. She then told her playing competitor that it would be her last round there. She’d finished in the top three on two different occasions at the ANWA, and after the missing the cut in 2023, the LSU senior thought she’d head on to LPGA Q-School and turn professional.
The No. 1 amateur in the world, Lindblad comes into Augusta fresh off a 10-stroke victory at the Clemson Invitational where she shot 66-67-65. She’s now the winningest player in SEC history with 14 titles.
“The first day I think I had 14 birdie putts within 20 feet,” she said.
After an opening round of 77 last year at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Lottie Woad stood over a 5-foot putt for birdie on the 18th, hands trembling. It was a straight putt, but sometimes straight putts can be the worst to face.
Was it really straight?
Woad needed to convert to shoot 69 at Champions Retreat Golf Club and qualify for Saturday’s final round at Augusta National. She trusted the line and made the putt and the cut on the number, becoming one of three English players to advance to the final round. Another was Woad’s Florida State teammate Charlotte Heath. Both return for a second AWNA start April 3-6 in Augusta, Georgia.
They’ll be joined by Mirabel Ting a sophomore transfer from Malaysia who began her college career at Augusta University, where she helped the program qualify for its first NCAA Championship last spring not long after losing her father.
“She is one of the few players I’ve ever had that literally hits the center of the clubface every time,” said FSU coach Amy Bond. “The wear pattern on her 8-iron is perfect.”
Last month, Ting returned to Augusta for the Valspar Augusta Invitational at Forest Hills, which she won. Bond said Ting was understandably nervous heading back to Augusta after she left the program, but a couple of warm hugs in the parking lot from familiar faces help lighten the mood.
“Any kid of substance is going to be nervous going back to where they transferred from,” said Bond.
As Ting makes her ANWA debut, Woad, currently No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, will once again have English national coach Steve Robinson on the bag. Robinson also works as a performance coach for U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and took notes from Fitzpatrick’s caddie last year about how to handle the elevation.
Lottie Woad (courtesy FSU athletics)
Heath, who will have a local caddie on the bag, said playing a practice round with Robinson was massive because he’s particularly good at helping players map out a course – which hole locations are greens lights and which ones are red.
Heath, 22, has been a member of England’s women’s national squad since age 17 and was part of the girls team two years prior to that.
“It’s been a real team,” said Heath of the cohesiveness of Team England. “Everyone wants everyone to do well. We’re texting each other year-round, really making time for each other.”
The big family atmosphere that Health describes rings familiar to other national systems. Team Sweden, for example, makes it a point to involve successful pros in its training programs so that the wisdom can be passed down.
Earlier this week, the USGA announced the inaugural U.S. National Junior Team, which is composed initially of 10 girls and eight boys. The plan is to grow the team to 30 boys and 30 girls over the next three years. Two members of the girls team – Asterisk Talley and Gianna Clemente – are in the ANWA field.
Former USC men’s head coach Chris Zambri, the first head coach for the U.S. National Development Program will be onsite in Augusta. Zambri began his role with the program last November.
“It’s about time,” said Bond. “Now our American players can start getting the funding and support they need.”
The first time Bond had a chance to watch Woad in person after Covid-19 travel restrictions lifted was at the 2022 R&A Girls Amateur at famed Carnoustie, where Woad beat Spain’s Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, 7 and 6, in the championship match. Bond thought she’d hit the jackpot.
The long-hitting Woad has six top-8 finishes this season for FSU, including a win at the Annika Intercollegiate last fall, where she co-medaled with three other players. It was a strange little stretch for Woad, who pulled a hamstring, cut her finger making a bagel and hit herself on the bridge of her nose with her 4-wood during the tournament. Coaches feared the whack might have caused a concussion.
The elder Heath has warmly looked after Woad during her time in Tallahassee. Heath had a chance to play for an LPGA card last December but opted to skip the final stage of Q-Series and head back to school for a final semester. She’ll graduate in May with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.
“I’m hoping not to use it,” she said.
While Woad turns heads with her long game, Bond calls Health’s short game one of the best she’s ever seen. It’s no wonder that they’ve partnered in foursomes a couple times for Team England and shot 8 under both times.
Heath, who won the Smyth Salver for low-amateur honors at last year’s AIG Women’s British Open, recently made a change in swing instructors, opting for a U.S.-based coach as she heads onto the Epson Tour this summer. Her ball position had gotten too far forward and she was coming over the top and lunging at the ball, Bond said. She’s already made vast improvements.
“It takes a lot of guts right before you’re going to turn pro to say I need to make a change and I need to make it now,” said Bond. “That’s a leap.”
Bond described Woad as a high-IQ player who works tirelessly on her game. Once a month Bond gets on a call with Woad and her swing coach, Luke Bone, to nitpick her game because she has such a good handle on the overall picture
Augusta National pays for one loved one to make the trip over to watch the action and that’s a big deal for international players like Woad and Heath. Woad’s 85-year-old grandmother will make her first trip to the U.S. in the coming days along with her father and an aunt. Heath’s parents will be there, too.
The ANWA is at the top of the heap when it comes to amateur golf, said Woad. And she’s not just talking about the trophy.
“When I was out there playing Augusta National,” said Woad, “and you have the crowds of young girls and boys watching. It’s a little bit more than us playing a golf tournament, honestly.”
