The third playing of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur gets underway this week with an elite field of 72 women’s amateurs competing over 54 holes of stroke play, March 30-31; April 2.
The first 36 holes will be played at Champions Retreat Golf Club on Wednesday and Thursday and after a cut, the top 30 players will compete in the final round at Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday, April 2. The full field will play a practice round at Augusta National on Friday.
FIRST ROUND PAIRINGS and TEE TIMES
Thursday’s second-round coverage will be streamed from Champions Retreat Golf Club for the first time on NBC Sports and the ANWA digital platforms starting at 2 p.m. ET, with two full hours of coverage from holes No. 9 and 18, as well as the full cut playoff (if necessary). “Making The Cut” will feature Steve Burkowski on the call with Paige Mackenzie, Kay Cockerill, Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay and Kathryn Tappen.
The final round will be broadcast live on NBC from noon to 3:00 p.m. EDT.
NBC’s final round TV coverage will be available to stream online in multiple ways. You can stream it for free at
ANWA.com from 12-3 p.m. ET on Saturday as well as on
Peacock if you are a subscriber. In addition,
ANWA.com will air a live “Making the Cut” show on Thursday focusing on the bubble players fighting to for a spot in the final round. “Making the Cut” will also stream live on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
How to watch the Augusta National Women's Amateur
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A look at the field
The field features 24 of the top 25 female amateur players in the world, including world Nos. 1 and 2
Rose Zhang and
Rachel Heck of Stanford. Zhang and Heck will be joined by teammates
Aline Krauter,
Brooke Seay,
Caroline Sturdza and
Angelina Ye, as well as
Megha Ganne, who will join the Cardinal lineup next fall.
Wake Forest will send the next-highest number of participants with four, including
Rachel Kuehn,
Carolina Lopez-Chacarra,
Lauren Walsh and 2021 runner-up
Emilia Migliaccio. A member of the Wake Forest women’s golf team has finished champion (2019, Jennifer Kupcho) or runner-up in each of the first two editions.
The championship will also host players from 22 international countries, led by Japan with four players and China, Germany, Korea and Sweden with three apiece.
Ten players will be making their third appearance in the Championship after competing in 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and four of those will be looking to make the cut for the third consecutive time:
Erica Shepherd,
Emma Spitz,
Beatrice Wallin and Zhang.
Seven players in the field have previously competed in Drive, Chip and Putt as a National Finalist at Augusta National, including three that won their age divisions as National Champions:
Savannah Grewal,
Alexa Pano and
Yana Wilson.
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For country and alma mater
Countries represented: United States (33), Australia (2), Austria (1), Canada (1), Chinese Taipei (1), Colombia (1) Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), England (2), Germany (3), India (1), Ireland (1), Italy (2), Korea (3), Malaysia (1), Japan (4), Scotland (2), Singapore (1), South Africa (1), Spain (2), Sweden (2), Switzerland (1), Thailand (1).
Universities with multiple players: Stanford (6), Wake Forest (4), Arizona State (3) USC (3), Auburn (2), Clemson (2), Duke (2), LSU (2), Michigan (2), Oregon (2) and Virginia (2).
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Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Top-10 Ranked Players in the Field
Isabella Fierro; Merida, Mexico (Mississippi) (GWAG Ranking: 9)
Fierro spent two and a half seasons at Oklahoma State before announcing last month she was transferring to Ole Miss. She ended last season with a 71.44 stroke average, which was the best single-season mark in Oklahoma State history. She capped her sophomore season with a win at the Big 12 Conference championships and enjoyed four top 10 finishes for Oklahoma State this season, which included a win at the Columbia Classic held in Melbourne, Fla.
Annabell Fuller; Kingston upon Thames, England (Florida) (GWAG Ranking: 7)
The Florida junior will be making her third appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. A two-time Curtis Cup team member, Fuller was one of three amateurs to make the cut at last year’s AIG Women’s Open and she also reached the semifinals of the 2021 English Ladies' Amateur Championship.
Rachel Heck; Memphis, Tenn. (Stanford) (GWAG Ranking: 2)
The Stanford sophomore has continued to be a standout in the amateur ranks this season. She won the first two events she played in in 2022 to reach eight collegiate wins at Stanford – one off the program record – including winning the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship. Heck has continued to shatter multiple individual and team records. In her second win of the year, the 20-year-old claimed individual medalist honors at 18-under, while Stanford set the NCAA 54-hole record at 50-under. Both set new school records. Heck returns to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for the second time after finishing one stroke out of the playoff in 2021 at T-3.
Rachel Kuehn; Asheville, NC (Wake Forest) (GWAG Ranking: 5)
The medalist at last summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, Kuehn has two victories to her credit this season for Wake Forest, winning the Tar Heel Invitational and the Northrup Grumman Challenge. The latter earned her an exemption into next month’s JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes on the LPGA Tour. It will be her first LPGA start. Has four career wins at Wake Forest, where her mother won five times as a senior in 1984.
Sara Kouskova; Prague, Czech Republic (Texas) (GWAG Ranking: 9)
A third-team Golfweek All-American as a junior, Kouskova has three top 10 finishes for the Longhorns this season, including a second-place showing at the Stanford Intercollegiate in October. A member of the Czech National Team since 2013, she represented her country at the Women's World Team Amateur Championship in Maynooth, Ireland, in August of 2018 and also finished eighth at the 2018 European Ladies Amateur Championship with a five-under-par total of 283. She made the cut at the 2018 Ladies British Open Amateur Championship and advanced to the third round of match play.
Ingrid Lindblad; Halmsted, Sweden (LSU) (GWAG Ranking: 1)
The 21-year-old LSU junior claimed her fourth victory of the season at the Clemson Invitational. With eight career victories, she now has multiple wins in each of her three seasons as a Tiger and has rarely finished outside the top 25 since starting college. Lindblad returns to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur field as one of the six players who finished one stroke outside the playoff in 2021 at T-3.
Valery Plata; Floridablanca, Colombia (Michigan State) (GWAG Ranking: 8)
Last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year advanced to the round of 32 at last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur. In November, she won the inaugural Women's Amateur Latin America Championship, presented by the Royal & Ancient and the ANNIKA Foundation, at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina which earned her exemptions into the AIG Women´s Open and The Amundi Evian Championship. A month after her win in Argentina, Plata made more history by becoming the first winner of the women's division of the Patriot All-America Invitational at the Wigwam Resort outside of Phoenix.
Emma Spitz; Vienna, Austria (UCLA) (GWAG Ranking: 4)
The 21-year-old will compete in her third Augusta National Women's Amateur after finishing 30th in 2019 and T-3 in 2021, one stroke shy of the playoff. Spitz is one of the four players who have made the cut in each of the first two editions of the event. The UCLA junior has maintained consistent play, adding two top-10 finishes this season after capping her 2020-21 collegiate season with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship. In 2021, Spitz had 10 top-10 finishes in 17 WAGR events, a win at the NCAA Simpsonville Regional and at the Austrian Stroke Play Championship.
Beatrice Wallin; Olofstrop, Sweden (Florida State) (GWAG Ranking: 6)
Wallin is the only player to have top-10 finishes in each of the first two editions of the Augusta National Women's Amateur, finishing T-7 in 2019 and T-10 in 2021. While she is still seeking her first win of 2022, the Florida State senior started the year with two top-seven finishes. In 2021, she earned two wins in addition to a runner-up finish at the 2021 ACC Women’s Golf Championship. Wallin carded an even-par 72 in the final round at Augusta National in 2021 and a one-under-par 71 in the final round in 2019.
Rose Zhang; Irvine, Calif. (Stanford) (GWAG Ranking: 3)
Zhang returns to the field for the second consecutive year as the top-ranked amateur in the world. Since starting her freshman campaign at Stanford last fall, Zhang has won three times and finished runner-up twice in six collegiate starts. As one of the four returning players who have made the cut in both previous editions, Zhang is looking to improve upon a T-17 finish in 2019 and a T-3 mark in 2021. As the tournament favorite in 2021, Zhang held a lead on the second nine during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but a triple-bogey 8 on the famous par-5 13th hole led to an eventual finish one stroke outside the playoff.
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Others to Watch
Amari Avery; Riverside, Calif. (USC)
After joining the Trojans as a spring enrollee, Avery won each of her first two-stroke play events at the ICON Invitational in Houston and the Gold Rush. A Riverside, Calif.-native, Avery recorded four top-10 finishes in 2020, highlighted by advancing to the quarterfinals of the California Women's Amateur Championship. Other highlights from 2020 include recording top-10 results at the Arizona Silver Belle Championship (T-8) and The Sally (T-9). She finished T-10 at the AJGA Girls Invitational at Stanford and concluded the year with a T-11 result at the Rolex Tournament of Champions. Avery captured the 2019 California Women's Amateur Championship in her home state and finished third at the 2019 Girl's Junior PGA Championship. Paired with fellow ANWA competitor Alexa Pano, Avery advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship in April 2019.She will be making her second ANWA appearance after missing the cut by one shot a year ago.
Jensen Castle; West Columbia, SC (Kentucky)
The reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion put together
a memorable run to lifting the Robert Cox Trophy last August at Westchester Country Club, where she survived a 12-for-2 playoff just to get into the match play portion of the tournament. She went on to make history as the first 63 seed to win this championship, winning with a 2&1 victory over Vivian Hou in the 36-hole title match. Castle reached the final by rallying from two down with three holes to play to defeat 2021 NCAA Individual champion Rachel Heck in the semifinals. Due to a fractured rib, Castle hadn't played golf in over a month prior to her win.
RELATED: A Quick Nine with Jensen Castle
Hannah Darling; Midlothian, Scotland (South Carolina)
Hannah Darling started her first season at the University of South Carolina with three top-10 showings in her first four events, including a runner-up finish at the 2021 ANNIKA Intercollegiate in her debut appearance for the Gamecocks. She was also a member of the 2021 GB&I Curtis Cup team, finishing 2-1-2 in the event. The summer before starting at South Carolina, Darling, 18, won the R&A Girls Amateur at Fulford and the St. Rule Trophy at St. Andrews, finished runner-up in the Scottish Women's Open and reached the semifinals of both the Women's Amateur Championship and Scottish Women's Amateur. Her victory at Fulford earned her an invitation to the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Her junior highlights include winning the Scottish Girls Amateur in 2017 and 2018, winning the Scottish Girls Open in 2019 and reaching the round of 16 in the 2020 Women's Amateur Championship.
Anna Davis; Spring Valley, Calif.
Anna Davis, the No. 2 ranked female player by the AJGA, won twice in 2021, including a seven-stroke victory in the Girls Junior PGA Championship in July to earn her first invitation to the Augusta National Women's Amateur. The Spring Valley, Calif.-native will make her debut at Augusta almost a year to the day after recording her first amateur victory at the Heather Farr Classic last April. Davis was a member of the 2021 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team and finished the year with a third-place finish at the American Junior Golf Association's Tournament of Champions. She was also named to the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Megha Ganne; Holmdel, NJ
Joining the field as the highest-ranked junior in the field, Ganne was named Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2021. The Stanford commit won the Scott Robertson Memorial and had three additional top-four finishes in junior and amateur events. At just 17 years old, Ganne shared the first-round lead last summer at the
2021 U.S. Women's Open with an opening 67 before going on to earn Low Amateur honors with a T-14 finish. Ganne is familiar with Augusta National Golf Club as a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt National Finalist and a participant in the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Youmin Hwang; South Korea
Huang is making her 2022 debut and Augusta National Women’s Amateur debut later this month. The 18-year-old hopes to become the third player in a row to win the Championship in her first appearance. She is one of three players representing South Korea. In 2021, she won two amateur events, including the Korea Women’s Amateur. She also had two top-10 finishes in KLPGA professional events, highlighted by a T-4 in the Korea Women's Open. She finished the year with a T-7 in the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific after a final-round 68 in Abu Dhabi.
Carolina Lopez-Chacarra; Madrid, Spain (Wake Forest)
As one of four Wake Forest players in the field, Lopez-Chacarra earned her first two collegiate wins this spring as a freshman. She has already set a school record for lowest 18-hole score with a final-round 62 and tied another school record with her winning total of 19-under. Lopez-Chacarra became the first Wake Forest player in three decades years to win multiple events in her first year. This will be her second appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur as she looks to make her mark on the Championship after missing the cut in 2021.
Emilia Migliaccio; Cary, NC (Wake Forest)
Migliaccio shot a final-round 70, one of just five subpar rounds at Augusta National Golf Club in 2021, to reach a playoff before eventually being defeated by Tsubasa Kajitani. She had her mother, Ulrika, on the bag with her all week. With the runner-up finish, Migliaccio is the top returning finisher to this year’s Championship. She closed out 2021 with a third-place finish on the Symetra Tour and finished sixth this year in the South Atlantic Women’s Amateur. Now a graduate student at Wake Forest, Migliaccio is planning to use her final year of eligibility during the 2022-2023 season.
RELATED: Emilia-Migliaccio's journey back to competitive golf
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What’s at stake?
The champion of the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur will earn additional opportunities to make their mark on the amateur game. Provided she remains an amateur, the 2022 champion will receive an invitation to the next five Augusta National Women’s Amateurs, the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open, the 2022 Women’s Open, and any USGA, R&A and PGA of America amateur championships for which she is eligible for one year.
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A look back at the first two championships
2019 ANWA Champion Jennifer Kupcho
(Golfweek photo) In 2019, Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, then the world's top-ranked amateur, played her final six holes in five under par, including an eagle on the par-five 13th, to prevail against Mexico's Maria Fassi of Arkansas and become the
first champion of the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Kupcho’s five-under-par 67 – the lowest round of the championship – in the final round led to a four-stroke victory at 10-under-par 206.
After a one-year pause due to the pandemic, 17-year-old
Tsubasa Kajitani defeated Wake Forest's Emilia Migliaccio with a par in a one-hole playoff to win the
2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur at 1-over-par 217. With the win, Kajitani became the first international ANWA champion and the first winner from Japan at Augusta National in any tournament.
Hailey Hernandez of Augusta National Women's Amateur contributed to this report