Gina Kim, Duke teammates teeing it up at Augusta National before Masters
Gina Kim has competed before at Augusta National Golf Club, getting a look at the famed Magnolia Lane and strolling off the 18th green as so many Masters champions have through the years.
“It was so surreal,” she said.
A freshman on the Duke women’s golf team, Kim took part in the National Drive, Chip & Putt youth competition on the Sunday before the 2015 Masters. She finished fourth in the 14-15 age division, a bit disappointing, but took everything in that day at Augusta National, putted on the 18th hole and made it a memorable experience.
Now, Kim should have an even more memorable one. She’ll also be joined by three of her Duke teammates -- senior Virginia Elena Carta, junior Ana Belac and sophomore Jaravee Boonchant -- and incoming freshman Erica Shepherd.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur, a year in the making, will be held this week, allowing some of the world’s best players a chance to test themselves in tournament play for the first time on Augusta National. The field of 72 in the inaugural event will first put in two rounds of stroke play at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., and the top 30 will advance to Saturday’s final round of the 54-hole championship on Augusta National.
But all 72 players will participate in a practice round Friday at Augusta National. Everyone will have at least 18 holes on the course so many have seen from afar on Masters telecasts or behind the ropes as Masters patrons but never as competitors.
Emilia Migliaccio of Cary, a sophomore at Wake Forest, is included in the field. Jennifer Chang of Cary, who plays at Southern Cal, also was invited.
When Kim received her official invitation from Augusta National, the Chapel Hill native was left blinking her eyes.
“I was wondering am I dreaming or not?” Kim said in an interview with the Blue Devil Network. “We’re in finals and I’ve been sleep deprived. I was thinking, ‘Am I still dreaming? Do I need to wake up for class?’ It’s something I’ve dreamed of.”
Many women golfers have had that dream. The Masters and Augusta National both were men-only for many years until former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina billionaire businesswoman Darla Moore became the club’s first female members in August 2012.
And the times still are a changin’, as they say. Masters chairman Fred Ridley announced during Masters week last year that the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur had been planned for 2019, calling it an “exciting addition to Masters week.”
“To be a part of the first one will be great,” said Carta, a native of Udine, Italy. “Hopefully it will draw a lot of attention, not only from the media and sponsors but also from the male side of the public which sometimes is reluctant to watch women’s golf.”
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion will receive invitations to the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open and 2019 Women’s British Open, and will be eligible to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for the next five years if still an amateur.
NBC Sports will have three hours of final-round coverage this year, with lead announcer Mike Tirico in the booth.
“I just want to enjoy the moment and play golf,” said Duke’s Belac, who is from Slovenia. “People will ask ‘What is it like?’ and I’ll be able to tell them. One day when I’m older I’ll be very happy to have been a part of history.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2019 at 12:32 PM.
