PHOENIX, ARIZONA | Almost seven years ago, Jennifer Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Also in the championship’s maiden field was Rose Zhang, then just 15, who went on to win in 2023.
Fast forward to last week, and Kupcho, Zhang and two other past winners competed in the Ford Championship, an LPGA event at Whirlwind Golf Club. While these players have moved on to professional golf, their experiences at Augusta National will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
“I remember in the inaugural one everyone was crying,” Zhang said. “They were either crying of happiness or they were crying of sadness just to make the cut. Every single player wanted just to make the cut [and thereby advance to the final round, the only one played at Augusta National], not even to win. So that shows how special it is.”
The other Augusta National Women’s Amateur winners at the Ford Championship were England’s Lottie Woad (2024) and Spain’s Carla Bernat Escuder (2025). In the field of 144, there were 36 past Augusta participants, including one player who will compete this week: top-ranked junior Asterisk Talley, who has verbally committed to Stanford University.
The championship is already making an impact on women’s professional golf. Through the 2025 tournament, past Augusta competitors had combined for 52 LPGA and Ladies European Tour victories, including four major championships. That impact only figures to grow.
“The crowds that we get in that event are as big as we get in pro events so I think that’s great,” Woad said. “You have a lot of young girls and boys watching that event and hopefully more people get to golf because of it.”
After Zhang finished T-17 in the inaugural championship, she finished T-3 in 2021 and T-12 in 2022. When she entered the 2023 tournament, she knew it would be her last before turning pro.
“That tournament meant a lot to me,” Zhang said. “To be able to be under that pressure and execute to hoist the one trophy that I really wanted was a testament to how much Augusta National means for not only me but all the amateurs out there.”
Needless to say, playing Augusta National is a privilege. It’s a golf cathedral and perhaps the most exclusive private club in the world.
Bernat Escuder, who received a sponsor invitation to play in the Ford Championship, is a rookie on the Epson Tour. She won at Augusta last year by shooting 68-68-68 (-12), which broke Kupcho’s scoring record by two strokes.
When she first set foot on Augusta National, she was immediately wowed by the course’s conditioning.
“The grass there, it looks like they cut it with scissors,” Bernat Escuder said. “It’s perfect.”
But just being at Augusta National induces nerves.
“I remember I was so, so nervous,” Bernat Escuder said. “I couldn’t even feel my hands on the first tee. I kept looking to the fairway, I’m like, I can’t believe I’m here. So yeah, it was insane.”
Playing Augusta National is not an experience to take for granted. Nine-time LPGA winner and European Solheim Cup captain Anna Nordqvist joined the tour in 2009, so she never experienced the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. But she would have immediately jumped at the opportunity if she’d had it.
“I don’t have many golf courses on my bucket list, but Augusta was always one of them that I desperately wanted to play and I never have,” Nordqvist said. “I’m obviously a little bit jealous of all these girls getting the opportunity to play there that time of year. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”
One of the favorites at Augusta this year will be Talley, 17, who will compete there for the third time. A top-10 finisher in each of her starts, she finished one stroke behind Bernat Escuder last April.
When she played Augusta National for the first time in 2024, she was starstruck. She’d previously been on the grounds when she competed in the Drive, Chip and Putt finals in 2018 and 2022, but she’d never played the course.
“After seeing it on TV for so many years and walking the grounds for Drive, Chip and Putt, just getting that experience [to play] was a full-circle moment,” she said.
To the amateurs who will make their Augusta debut, the past champions have advice: stay in the moment and be yourself.
“I think the hardest part about ANWA is that it’s kind of like the majors and all the things they come with,” Bernat Escuder said. “Just play golf and enjoy the moment, because this year I’m not playing it and I’m going to miss it so much. I wish I could just be there again, playing Augusta in a competition.”
“I love that event and I’m a little annoyed that I don't get to play it anymore. It’s so fun.”
Lottie Woad
Woad, who won at Augusta by birdieing three of her last four holes, including Nos. 17 and 18, echoed Bernat Escuder’s sentiments.
“I love that event and I’m a little annoyed that I don't get to play it anymore,” Woad said. “It’s so fun.”
While many amateurs who play Augusta won’t turn pro, the experience will certainly help the ones who do. The winner receives exemptions into four of the five LPGA major championships.
“I think winning ANWA last year and playing the four majors really helped me to be ready for professional life and get my game on,” Bernat Escuder said. “You win this big amateur event and you think I got it. Then the reality hits you. You have to keep working so much and you have so many things to prove because these people here [on pro tours] are pretty much perfect.”
But for those in the field this week, that’s looking too far ahead. This year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur starts Wednesday, with the first two rounds slated for Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta, and ends with Saturday’s final round at Augusta National.
“I’m super excited to get there,” Talley said.
Top: Lottie Woad was impressed by the crowds at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Thomas Lovelock, Augusta National