It looks easy, the annual Drive, Chip & Putt competition at Augusta National. So easy, a kid could do it. And only kids are allowed to compete. What’s so hard about bashing a couple of drives, flipping a couple of chips and rolling a couple of putts? Oh, wait. It’s with no warmup. It’s on national television. And it’s at the home of the Masters, with green-jacketed folks trotting about and flowers in bloom.
That’s all.
Those who have been there know. Given the youth of the competitors, the spotlight and the scarcity of strokes, these are the six most testing shots in golf.
“On the range, I was so nervous, I was shaking,” recalled Michael Jorski of his experience in 2018 as an 8-year-old, when he placed sixth.
“I realized everyone was looking at me,” remembered Martha Kuwahara of her second go-around at Augusta. “There was a lot of pressure.”
Jorski, from Clarendon Hills, would rebound four years later to win the Boys 12–13 division in 2022. Kuwahara, from Northbrook, was ninth in her first appearance, and came back to capture the Girls 14–15 bracket the following year, in 2023. Two of the Chicago area’s four national winners since the competition commenced in 2014 each felt the pressure and then succeeded.
“Being there twice is an advantage,” Jorski said.
For the third time in four years, a quartet of youngsters will carry Chicago-area colors to Augusta, having advanced through the first three stages. Patricia Kittivat of Schaumburg (Girls 7–9), Vihaan Patel of Streamwood (Boys 10–11), Lucy Wiertel of Oswego (Girls 10–11) and Carter Bird of Hinsdale (Boys 14–15) will tee it up, Wiertel for the second time in three years. She finished ninth at Augusta in 2024.
“She’ll know the ropes,” Kuwahara said of Wiertel. “She’ll know the pressure.”
There may have been nerves and pressure, but there was also fun.
“For me, it was a dream come true,” Kuwahara said. “I’d tried to qualify before and made it in my fourth year. It’s just an awesome experience. You usually don’t get to step on the Augusta fairways, greens and driving range unless you’re a pro. To be able to be a 15-year-old still in high school, still learning about the game, to be on the range and watch pros practicing, it was like I want to be in their shoes someday.”
For Kuwahara, the next step on that road is joining Michigan’s golf team in the fall. Jorski, who tied for 19th in last year’s Illinois State Amateur Championship and made an ace during the event, will be a junior at Hinsdale Central. The area’s other two winners were Christian Kim (Boys 10–11, 2016) and Effie Perakis of Glenview (Girls 7–9, 2015), now in medical school at UIC.
The drive down the club’s driveway alone was eye-popping.
“I’d seen Magnolia Lane in videos, but now it’s real life,” Kuwahara said. “I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Augusta staff was waving and clapping for us as we came in.”
The welcome starts the day before.
“The night before is awesome,” Jorski recalled. “There’s a welcoming dinner with a speaker. Then the next morning you drive down Magnolia Lane. When I was 12, we had a perfect morning. It was early, so the sun is rising, and then there are all the flowers.”
It’s a sensory overload that can take your mind off your game if you’re not careful.
“I’m sure every single player there will be more nervous than they’ve ever been in their life,” Jorski said. “It’s different than regular golf, two drives, two chips, two putts, but you just train for it. Like in putting, you’re trying to stop the ball at the hole.
“It feels a lot more random (than regular golf). So, if you miss your two drives (out of bounds), you’re in last place. If that happens, then just enjoy that you’re at Augusta and competing. Not many people get to do that.”
As Kuwahara said, “In regular golf, you have a recovery shot here and there. In Drive, Chip & Putt, if you hit a driver out, you’re kind of out of the game. There’s a lot more pressure.
“For me, what changed was my mentality. The first year, I was kind of conservative. I just need to get it in the fairway, just need to get it close. The second year, for driver, I was, “Just hit it as hard as you can.’ I started to be more aggressive with my play and it worked out.”
There is also time to shop. Both Jorski and Kuwahara loaded up in the mammoth merchandise shop. For Kuwahara, the shopping list included earrings and bracelets along with shirts, hats, towels and a collar for her dog.
“We bought a ton of stuff. My dad even bought clothes bigger than I was then so I can wear them now,” Jorski said. “I recommend everyone buy everything they can.”
Both were well-received by their classmates upon their return, with piles of text messages from pals and school announcements heralding their success, the proverbial 15 minutes of fame, and it may just be a harbinger of more to come. While both Kuwahara and Jorski say the Drive, Chip & Putt competition doesn’t directly translate to achievements in tournament play, there are hints it foreshadows success.
To use two examples, Akshay Bhatia was in the 2014 DCP final field as a 12-year-old, tying for sixth, and has gone on to win twice on the PGA Tour, returning to Augusta to play in the 2024 Masters. And Megha Ganne, a four-time finalist, leads a group of six girls who have since played in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Kuwahara and Jorski already are looking forward to similar successes. As for Kittivat, Patel, Wiertel and Bird, their ride down Magnolia Lane and into the six-shot pressure cooker awaits.
Tim Cronin has written a dozen books on golf.
