EVANS, Ga. — With 72 of the best women’s amateur golfers in the field it was no surprise that 36 holes weren’t enough to determine the top-30 players to make the cut at the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Following a 7.5-hour weather delay on Thursday, second-round action rolled over to Friday morning at Champions Retreat Golf Club, host of the first two rounds of play, and featured a 4-for-1 playoff for the last spot in Saturday’s final round. After making par on Nos. 10, 11, and 17 on the first three playoff holes, Paula Schulz-Hanssen emerged victorious with a fourth par on No. 18, dispatching Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, who made bogey. Arizona State senior Alexandra Forsterling was eliminated with a bogey on No. 11, with Vanderbilt senior Auston Kim doing the same on the 17th.
As if qualifying for the final round at Augusta National Golf Club wasn’t good enough, Schulz-Hanssen did so on her 19th birthday.
“I was so nervous, but I just tried to not think too much about it, and Charles, my caddie, and I was just like, ‘Just trust your game. Just do your own thing,’” explained Schulz-Hanssen, who missed the cut at last year’s ANWA. “Yeah, I didn’t make any big mistakes. So I think that was the key.”
Florida State senior Beatrice Wallin – the lone player to shoot under par in the second round – and LSU junior Latanna Stone are tied atop the leaderboard at even par entering the final round.
Wallin is no stranger to the weekend at Augusta National after finishes of T-7 in 2019 and T-10 in 2021. Knowing it’s her last time at the event, the 22-year-old from Sweden is just soaking it all in one last time.
“So I’m just going to go out there with a big smile and see, whatever happens, happens,” said Wallin.
Stone has some Augusta National experience as well, having been a national finalist at the 2014 Drive, Chip & Putt.
“I’m really pumped to play Augusta. I’ve never played it before, so it’s going to be a real treat,” said Stone. “I’ve just been trying to keep it simple – fairways, greens, two-putt, and kind of get off. I’m not trying to do anything special. I know there’s not a lot of birdies out there, and I’m just trying to stay patient.”
The Riverview, Florida, native remembers watching Bubba Watson’s famous shot from the Woods at the 2012 Masters and even had the chance to go in the PING vault and see his wedge. Would she try to recreate that shot during Friday afternoon’s practice round?
“I don’t know about that,” she said with a smile. “I’m just going to try to hit the fairway.”
Four players in the ANWA field have their siblings as caddies this week.
EVANS, Ga. — Augusta National Women’s Amateur competitors have to make some tough decisions for tournament week. Outside of who gets to make the trip down Magnolia Lane for Friday’s lauded practice round at Augusta National Golf Club, the next biggest choice is who will caddie.
For Michigan’s Ashley Lau, Oregon State’s Ellie Slama, Stanford’s Caroline Sturdza and Florida State’s Beatrice Wallin, the decision was simple: they kept it in the family. All four players have a sibling on the bag this week, creating moments that neither player nor caddie will soon forget.
“It was super fun having my brother out there. We worked really well together today,” said Slama, who currently sits just outside the cut at T-32 after Wednesday’s first round. “I think just going forward, it’s fun to have family members, people you know, familiar faces out there. It makes it a little bit more calm and easy, and there’s a little less pressure going into it.”
“It’s really special. This is her third time here this year, my first time caddying,” said her brother, Tim, who has been on the bag for her for USGA events and other tournaments in the past. “But this one’s extra special, especially with the likelihood that this is her last year, and it’s an honor to be here.”
After watching from outside the ropes the last two years, Tim said it’s easier to be on the bag than outside the ropes because he has a little control.
“It’s kind of like riding in the car versus driving. Like, I’m not driving the car, but I’m doing navigation,” he explained. “So it’s a little bit easier inside the ropes in terms of the stress levels.”
Not to mention the familiarity siblings share with one another. Whether it’s the chit-chat between shots or the ability to be more direct without hurting feelings, having someone on the bag who knows them better than anyone else is like a 15th club.
“I would say she just knows when to talk and when to not talk and when to leave me alone,” said Lau with a chuckle about her sister, Adeline, who also plays college golf at Eastern Michigan. “It’s better if I tell her directly. I wouldn’t hurt her feelings by staying that, but to a stranger I might. She just knows when to step away and then leave me alone for a little bit which is nice.”
“I know her very well, so I know how to deal with her,” echoed Max Sturdza, who has the bag for his sister, Caroline. “I think it makes a big difference from someone who’s just a random caddie or something like that.
“It’s a big experience for both of us,” continued Max, who also plays college golf at Florida Atlantic. “I think we can learn a lot from all this. It’s so much fun to be out here with her and just enjoy the tournament.”
Beatrice Wallin and caddie Rickard Wallin walk the fourth hole during the first round of the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat Golf Club.
Things are different for Wallin and her brother, Rickard, who has been on the bag for each of her two previous ANWA appearances that resulted in a pair of made cuts and top-10 finishes (T-7 in 2019 and T-10 in 2021).
“It’s so nice because I can be the boss and be like, ‘Do you really think so? I don’t know,’ and then I make the decision,” Beatrice said of their relationship. “He’s always so supportive with all my decisions, and he did a great job today.”
A few of Rickard’s thoughts even led to key birdies for Beatrice, who sits T-9 at 1 over after the first round. Does that mean he’ll get to make more decisions going forward and take more control? Not quite.
“No, no, no,” Beatrice responded with a smile. “I’m still the boss.”
Experience goes a long way, especially at the ANWA.
Statistical milestones are common across sports and entertainment. Major League Baseball has its 3,000-hit club. The National Football League has the 500 club for passing yards in a game. Saturday Night Live has the five-timers club for hosts.
This year at the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, there’s a unique group that’s just as exclusive as the event’s namesake. Meet the ANWA three-timers club.
Of the 72 players in the field for the biggest women’s amateur event on the golf schedule, nine have competed in the two previous events: Florida junior Annabell Fuller, last year’s runner-up Emilia Migliaccio, 17-year-old Alexa Pano, Duke junior Erica Shepherd, Oregon State senior Ellie Slama, UCLA junior Emma Spitz, Florida State senior Beatrice Wallin, as well as Stanford junior Angelina Ye and freshman Rose Zhang.
Shepherd, Spitz, Wallin and Zhang are the only players to make the cut in each of the previous two events.
“I guess I haven’t looked at it that way before, but it’s awesome, and any course knowledge you can bring into this place, it’s a really tough track, I think it will benefit me,” said Shepherd of her advantage as an ANWA three-timer. “This course, Champions Retreat, is a gem in itself. I think that with the new greens and everything, there’s a lot to account for. I’m just trying to still be a learner out here.”
At last year’s event, Shepherd was flirting with the cut line and thought to herself that she wasn’t going to advance to the weekend. But the Indiana native dug deep and fought back to qualify for the final round, where she improved on her T-23 finish in 2019 with a T-16 in 2021 after COVID-19 cancelled the tournament in 2020.
“It’s such a special event, don’t stress out too much about the golf and needing to make the cut because we all want to do that, I want to do that,” advised Migliaccio, who lost in a playoff to 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani. “But you’ll really play well if you just cherish everything about the tournament.”
Easier said than done.
“It is really hard. I think the key is to stay in the moment and not get too high or too low,” said Shepherd of the challenges to not look ahead to the potential trip down Magnolia Lane on Saturday, which could require a playoff to break any ties to determine the 30 who will play the final round at Augusta National. “Obviously, everyone is just grinding to get into the low 30. It’s a hard low 30, and 30 only. So it’s definitely a big goal for this week and for everyone here.”
“I really want to be in the same position I was last year, but if I want to be in that position, I can’t focus on that,” echoed the always-bubbly Migliaccio, who played with Shepherd and her fellow Blue Devil, Phoebe Brinker, during Tuesday’s practice round. “So just really trying to focus on each hole. I mean, Nelly Korda always says, ‘one shot at a time,’ and it’s so key because if you just get too ahead of yourself, even on one hole, like already thinking about where you want to be on the green, well, if you haven’t hit your tee shot, that’s going to determine how you’re going to play the next one.”
“But I think anyone who’s played the course before is going to have an advantage,” continued Migliaccio, “and I think that’s a pretty equal advantage. Like if you’ve played it before, played it two times, like it’s going to help.”
With their star player, Beatrice Wallin, back in the lineup, Florida State proved it can be a power this spring season.
MELBOURNE, Fla. – Beatrice Wallin was the picture of peace sitting on the pool deck after a smooth 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s final round of the Moon Golf Invitational. Having held up her end of a deal with assistant coach Justin Fetcho, she waited patiently as Fetcho scrambled to find a towel before he made his promised leap into the swimming pool.
On the range Tuesday morning at Suntree Country Club, Fetcho gave Wallin a bit of incentive to score: A round of 6 under would get him in the pool. Mid-round, with wind kicking up, the two agreed to back it up it 4 under.
Fast forward to No. 18, Suntree’s par-5 finishing hole. Wallin was 2 under on her round and looking at just over 180 yards into the green on her second shot. She pulled the 4-iron and went for it.
“He’s was like, are you aiming in the middle of the green?” Wallin said of her mid-fairway conversation with Fetcho. “I’m like, I need to go for the middle of the pin because I need to make an eagle. I hit a really good shot and had a foot left.”
Fetcho could only shake his head and Wallin went on to tap it in for 68. She finished T-5 individually at the Moon Golf Invite, the second-lowest Seminole behind sophomore Charlotte Heath, as Florida State won the tournament at 10 under, four shots better than Virginia.
Justin Fetcho, Florida State’s assistant coach, after a dip in the swimming pool post-Moon Golf Invitational title. (Photo submitte
All feels right in Wallin’s world now that her senior spring has started. She decided last fall to delay her start on the Epson Tour even though she earned status at last fall’s Q-School, finish out the season with her team and graduate. A teammate informed her that this week was her last first spring tournament. She hadn’t thought much about it before that.
“She’s a great leader in keeping them loose and focused when she needs to,” said head coach Amy Bond, who said she got chills just thinking about Wallin coming back for this final semester. “She called herself the middle child today, playing the three guy. She’s like, it’s OK if you don’t see the middle child, it’s OK. That’s how she is. If you’re there great, if not she’s fine.”
Conversely, Florida State is elevated by Wallin’s presence. The Moon Golf title is the team’s first win this season, and a far cry from a fall-ending 10th-place finish at the Landfall Tradition, when Wallin was absent for Q-School. Florida State entered the spring ranked No. 26 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, which belies the team’s potential now that Wallin is back in the lineup.
The Seminoles picked up significant victories over top-20 programs South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Virginia, Duke and Auburn at the Moon Golf.
“To lead wire to wire in this field, I’m extremely proud of them,” Bond said. “It’s almost like a regional – instead of 12 teams you have 15 teams. About half of that was in the top 25. Really happy with the caliber of play all around.”
It’s fitting that this whole team would eventually migrate to the pool deck post-round for Fetcho’s leap – which is exactly the kind of no-stress incentive Bond likes to see during competition.
“It’s one of those where if the kids are having fun and in the moment and the mood is light, they’re going to execute their shots,” she said. “If we put too much pressure on them it’s not going to happen. Golf is a game and it should be played.”
Bond calls Florida State a combined program – the men and women pool resources, share social media accounts, flip-flop coaches and generally look out for each other.
“It’s a lot of fun, it’s like a big family away from home,” said Heath, an Englishwoman who knows team golf well, mostly recently as a Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cupper. “It’s great to be able to play with the men because you learn from them. They play golf completely different from how we play golf. It’s so nice sharing a coach because everyone knows everyone.”
Heath, who had her best finish of the season at Moon Golf, calls this squad a lot deeper than last year’s. Attribute that to an overarching “goofy, silly” culture as well as just another year of experience. She’s relishing the time spent competing against and learning from Wallin and names as a big goal the ability to come off the golf course after each round and know she didn’t get ahead of herself.
That was particularly important, big-picture wise, this week. The next stop in the road comes up quickly for the Seminoles, who host the Florida State Match-Up Feb. 25-27. That leaves only one real off day between tournaments. For the first time this year, Pac-12 programs Arizona, Oregon and Oregon State will all fly east to compete.
Florida State will host an NCAA Regional at its newly redesigned Seminole Legacy Course in May and scouting is perhaps part of the pull.
Hosting a postseason event is also a huge leg up for a team that has now revealed the extent of its capability with a full lineup.
“The great thing is we never have to leave,” Bond said of preparing for postseason. “I can qualify there and we can do a few things differently that maybe we wouldn’t normally do because we know maybe a kid is not playing well maybe coming into it but we know they play well at home so we can use that. But again, it’s nice to know that at the end of the year they can at least spend a regional sleeping in their own beds.”
Beatrice Wallin decided she couldn’t start a professional career until she’s finished the academic career she started at Florida State.
Beatrice Wallin “isn’t really a school person,” and yet school is the one thing tethering her to Tallahassee, Florida, for the next three months. In one hand, the 22-year-old Swede has just a semester left of college golf. In the other, she has status on the Epson Tour.
After much deliberation, Wallin decided she just couldn’t take the latter until she’s properly closed out the former. So when Florida State opens the spring at this week’s Moon Golf Invitational in Melbourne, Florida, Wallin will be there, just as she has for three and a half years.
“I get to finish, I get to graduate and do everything one more time with my team,” Wallin said. “So I’m kind of excited and I’m not too worried about turning professional and that whole life because I feel like I will have so much more time to do that. We only go to college once.”
Florida State golfer Beatrice Wallin putts on the 18th green during the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. (Photo: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports)
For the record, Wallin has averaged under par in competitive rounds at Augusta National. She’s the only player with consecutive top-10 finishes at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Given those statistics alone, her gamble seems a safe bet. By the time she finishes the spring college season, she will have missed eight events on the 21-tournament Epson Tour schedule. The LPGA’s developmental tour is essentially a money grab – only the top 10 players earn an LPGA card at the end of the season.
“If you’re a top 5 player in the world,” Florida State head coach Amy Bond told her senior as they talked through options last fall, “you should be able to hopefully make enough money to at least keep your (Epson) card but I really feel like you can get in the top 10 if you springboard your play out of college golf into professional golf in the summertime.”
To that point, Wallin countered that if she had a bad summer, she deserved to play another year on the Epson Tour anyway. Decision made.
Three years ago, Wallin’s former teammate and roommate Frida Kinhult earned a pass directly to the final stage of LPGA Q-Series by ending her freshman college season ranked inside the top 5 in the season-end Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. Kinhult earned status on the then-Symetra Tour the next fall and decided to depart for professional golf immediately.
It opened Wallin’s eyes to the possibility that she could have the same opportunity.
“Bea said, ‘If I ever get in that five, can I go to tour school?’” Bond said. “I said absolutely, you’re crazy not to. This is what we all work toward, as college coaches, is getting our players out on tour at some point.”
Florida State Seminoles golfer Beatrice Wallin (right) walks with her coach Amy Bond on the 10th fairway during the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Bond and Wallin didn’t revisit the issue until Wallin found herself ranked No. 4 at the end of her junior season and exempt into the second stage. Bond told her she needed to plan on playing Q-School in the fall, and most of their conversations revolved around preparation and logistics.
“With Frida, I knew going in,” Bond said of whether her star player would turn professional. “That’s how forward Frida was. Frida was like, ‘If I finish in X number, then I’m leaving.’ Bea wasn’t like that – we just kind of didn’t talk about it.”
Wallin finished the eight-round Q-Series at 1 over, good for a T-60 finish that left her five shots short of a full LPGA card but with Epson Tour status. As Wallin drove back to Tallahassee after the final round, she chatted with Bond on the phone. She was coming back, she told her coach.
By the next morning, with a little more time to think, Wallin had decided she needed to do more research. She spent time consulting Fredrik Wetterstrand, her Swedish National Team coach, as well as her parents. Bond called the LPGA to determine whether she could play Epson events as an amateur and bank points or money toward her card (she couldn’t). They counted exactly how many events she’d miss.
“She’s a huge piece of our puzzle to be successful and to have her finish what she started, I’m so extremely proud of her for betting on herself,” Bond said.
In Wallin’s mind, returning ultimately came down to the amount of work she’d already poured into a Humanities major at Florida State – three and a half years of studying and keeping her grades up, something that hadn’t come easily. What difference would three months really make?
“I want to accomplish it because I’ve been really putting time to do school,” she said of graduating. “I also want to do it for my team and myself too.”
The potential for a magical spring is there for Wallin, especially as she’s poised to become just the second four-time All-American in Florida State history (a club that only Caroline Westrup, not Tour-winning Seminoles Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger, occupies) and will tee it up at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for the third time.
“I feel like I know more now than my first year when I played,” Wallin said of Augusta, “like how the golf courses are and how the competition is.”
Then there’s the possibility of a deeper run at the NCAA Championship. Last spring, Florida State missed the match-play bracket by one shot. Wallin will figure heavily into a team that she says is ready for a redo.
“Of course, that counted in my decision to stay,” she said. “I feel like we can do so much better. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to do it again and hopefully, we will do better and it will be a great finish to my college career.”
Because an eight-round tournament isn’t difficult enough, Q-Series happens to collide with the last two weeks of the semester for Florida State senior Beatrice Wallin. Thankfully, the humanities major reports that her professors have been supportive.
Wallin is one of eight amateurs in the field of 110 this week, and she’s currently the highest in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at No. 5.
“It’s legit,” said Wallin of the vibe so far at Q-Series. “It’s very different to what I’m used to, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Wallin was able to skip Stage I of qualifying thanks to being awarded a spot in the field at Stage II as a top-5 player in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings at the time of the entry deadline. Both Linn Grant of Arizona State and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of South Carolina advanced into Stage II this way but have turned professional. Roussin-Bouchard medaled at second stage.
The first week of Q-Series takes place Dec. 2-5 on the RTJ’s Magnolia Grove (Crossings and Falls Courses) in Mobile, Alabama. There will be a cut to low 70 and ties.
Scores will carry over from the first week to the second. The top 45 players and ties will receive LPGA status for the 2022 season. Those who do not receive LPGA status will have Symetra Tour status for next year.
College players who enter the field as amateurs can defer LPGA membership and accept at any point until July 1, 2022.
Both Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi chose to defer after earning their LPGA cards. Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur the next spring and Fassi won the NCAA Championship.
Wallin said she isn’t yet sure what she’ll do.
“I’ve been telling everyone that I’ve been in college for 3 ½ years, I might as well just finish it off,” she said. “You know, it can be tempting to turn professional because that’s what you’ve been practicing for your whole life.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
Among the seven college players in the field are sisters Yu Chiang Hou (who goes by Vivian) and Yu-Sang Hou. The Taiwanese pair play for Arizona and are both ranked in the top 30 in the world.
Yu-Chiang Hou, from Chinese Taipei, smiles after defeating Cara Heisterkamp 4 & 3 in the quarterfinal match at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Harrison on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Rounding out the college players in the field are U.S. Curtis Cup players Gina Kim (Duke) and Brooke Matthews (Arkansas) as well as Polly Mack (Alabama) and Karen Fredgaard (Houston).
In addition, Hyo Joo Jang, 18, of South Korea, is a 2022 high school graduate who attends a golf academy in Florida.
A three-time winner at Florida State, Wallin ranks second in career scoring for the Seminoles at 71.94. It was her brother Richard who got Wallin and her parents into the game after a neighbor first invited him to play. Richard, who works back home in Sweden, is on the bag this week.
“There’s a lot of Swedes playing,” said Wallin, who went to dinner at Bonefish with four of her compatriots on Tuesday night.
“Just talking about normal stuff, trying to have some fun off the golf course.”
Florida State junior Beatrice Wallin claimed the individual title at the Seminoles’ home event and set a record in the process.
Florida State played its annual Florida State Match-Up for the first time on its new Seminole Legacy Club in Tallahassee, Florida, this weekend and the demands of the newly renovated course were apparent. The Seminoles stuck to their gameplan and used home-course knowledge to author a 37-shot victory over runner-up Kent State.
Florida State junior Beatrice Wallin claimed the individual title with rounds of 66-68-70 and at 12 under for 54 holes, set a tournament scoring record.
This marked the first time Wallin got to play her team’s home event at Florida State’s actual home course considering it had previously been under renovation.
“We were all super excited and then when we all played well, it was just awesome to see,” she said. “My own game was really good so I was just … enjoying every single moment.”
