The sun has set on Augusta, Georgia, and the first round of this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur is in the books. The best of the next generation teed off at Champions Retreat Golf Club on Wednesday morning, and the peach ice cream isn’t the only sweet taste these women have so far in the premier amateur event in the world.
Soomin Oh and Maria Jose Marin stunned at the Palmer and Nicklaus courses, with their experience at this course coming in clutch as much as their putters in the first round. Oh, just 17 years old, finished bogey-free on the day for a 7-under-65.
“I think my driver shot was really good, and I think my putting was also really good,” the Korean said. “I just try not to expect myself and not be greedy, just relax and just focus on one shot at a time.”
Marin, in her fourth career start in this event, posted the same 65 after starting on the back nine.
“I kind of know more about the course, how are the conditions, how it’s going to play,” Marin said Wednesday. “I think I can build a really good strategy around this place, and I think that’s what I did, along with my coach and my dad.
“We talked about it yesterday a lot, and yeah, they just told me, you know the place, you
know what you’re doing, just trust yourself, trust your game, and yeah, just be you.”
The Colombian thrives at the top. Just last spring, she became the third Arkansas Razorback to bring home the NCAA Division I Individual Championship. The others? Maria Fassi and future hall-of-famer Stacy Lewis.
Today was the best career round for Marin at the Women’s Amateur, four strokes better than her previous personal best in the first round two years ago. Following a missed cut last year, however, Marin wears her confidence as proudly as she reps her Nike polo.
“Last year gave me a lot of – it was a lot of learning. There was a lot of tears, and of course this tournament means a lot to me,” she said. “But I learned that I’ve got to stay with my two feet on the ground, that I have to be really patient with my game, that if things are not going my way, I don’t have to push it, that I just have to wait for golf to do its thing.”
On their heels are Canadian Vanessa Borovilos, Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta and last year’s runner-up, Asterisk Talley, at 6-under, with 17-year-old future Demon Deacon Amelie Zalsman not far behind at 5-under.
Borovilos is no stranger to playing golf in and around Augusta. She was a four-time Drive, Chip & Putt regional finalist, with her ultimately winning the Girls 10-11 division in 2018.
And yet, the shock waves came back bigger than ever.
“Immediately once you step on to the grounds, everything is so pure,” she said. “I remember being told as a kid, if you find a weed at Augusta, you get a thousand bucks. I’m not sure if that’s true, but there’s no chance of finding one here. It’s incredible.”
Borovilos is away from SEC play this week, representing the maroon of Texas A&M as she posted a birdie-filled scorecard today, including three in her last five holes.
“I think speed on the greens was pretty good for me today,” she said. “But just having a good time, joking with my caddie, not trying to think about the score since it’s so early in the tournament, but just try to pick the best lines off the tees and on the greens.”
Talley is making her third career start at Augusta with the hope of topping last year’s sole second place finish, which only added to an already impressive resume for the California native.
Thursday afternoon, the 17-year-old got to add an eagle on 18 – her ninth hole for the day – at Champions Retreat to her accolades.
“I had a kind of tough stance there. I had a lot of green to work with. I wasn’t very short-sighted, but I was honestly just trying to barely get it on the green and let it roll out all the way to the flag,” Talley said. “I knew it was going to be pretty fast. I was honestly just trying to get it within 10 feet, and it ended up going in, so it was pretty cool.”
World No. 1 Kiara Romero posted a 2-under on the day, while fellow amateur breakout star Megha Ganne, currently ranked 6th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, struggled more than anticipated heading into this week. Ganne posted up a 5-over on the day.
The two previous champions in this week’s field, Anna Davis and Tsubasu Kajitani, finished at 1-under and 12-over respectively.
