Two Florida women’s golfers, juniors Sierra Brooks and Marta Perez, partook in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur this week with success.
Brooks, the No. 22-ranked amateur in the world, and Perez, No. 60, according to the Women’s Ametuer Golf Rankings, were invited to compete based on their respectable places and influence in the women’s amateur game.
Brooks and Perez finished T10 (+1) and T21 (+4), respectively. Both Gator standouts were in contention all week but struggled during the final round at Augusta, the only round on the celebrated course. The first two rounds were held at the local Champions Retreat Golf Club, with the top-30 advancing to the final day.
Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts founded the Augusta National Golf Club in 1933 with the idea of creating the most prestigious, exclusive and elite club in the South. Jones, indisputably the greatest golfer of his time, and Roberts, a close friend and Wall Street broker, hired legendary golf course architect Alister MacKenzie to put their dream to reality.
The first Masters Tournament was held soon after in 1934, and since then, the tournament has been a spectacle of spring, and a staple in the sporting world’s calendar.
Yet, despite all the glory that Augusta National basks in annually — its flowers in full bloom, not a single blade of grass or grain of sand out of place, a seemingly always top-caliber tournament — the club has always been undermined by a failure to adapt to modern times.
Florida alum and current club chairman Fred Ridley presented the Augusta National Women’s Amateur prior to last year’s Masters Tournament, an unprecedented opportunity to spotlight the game’s best female amateurs on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National for the first time, the weekend before the men compete.
The 54-hole event was met with widespread praise, and this week’s inaugural competition proved that the women’s competition can also bring crowds to Augusta each April.
In the highest-rated women’s golf telecast in three years, Wake Forest senior Jennifer Kupcho outlasted Arkansas senior Maria Fassi to become the event’s inaugural champion.
It was a two-person duel for most of Saturday’s final round at Augusta, but ultimately it was Kupcho who pulled away victorious at 10 under, four shots clear of Fassi, a native of Mexico.
The women who competed understood the size of the moment, the historic nature of what it meant, and they took it with stride.
It was the opportunity of a lifetime.
“It’s huge. It’s everything women’s golf needs,’’ Brooks said in a release. “I’m just so honored that I get to be a part of this historic event and be a part of history, and I just really hope that this tournament will inspire the next generations.”
For Brooks, who also had her father, Brent, caddying for her this week, this event was extra special.
“Having him on the bag, last round at Augusta National, there’s nothing that beats that,” she said. “One of the best memories ever.”
Follow Jack Braverman on Twitter @jack_braverman and contact him at jbraverman@alligator.org.
Florida golfer Sierra Brooks tied for 10th at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur with a score of 1 over.
