For returnees and newcomers alike, opportunity awaits in the 12th Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.
Eighty participants will convene Sunday morning at Augusta National Golf Club to compete in four age divisions. More than 850 boys and girls age 7 to 15 years old have advanced to the National Finals since the inaugural event in 2014. The event will be televised from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
This year’s field is comprised of golfers from 34 states and the Canadian province of Ontario who advanced through three qualifying stages concluding with 10 regional sites, where berths in the National Finals were secured.
“I’m just excited to go down Magnolia Lane again,” said Kipp Madison of Augusta, Ga., one of 12 returning competitors, which is twice as many as last year.
The Boys 12-13 National Champion in 2024 – and the first from the Augusta area to win in the final stage – Madison (Boys 14-15) is joined in the field by three other Drive, Chip and Putt National Champions: Texas Terry of Manor, Texas; Karis Reid of Carmel, Ind.; and Dawson Dial of Cedar Park, Texas.
“It’s great just to know that I’m going to have that experience again and have a great time no matter what happens,” said Dial, who won Boys 10-11 in 2025 and is competing in Boys 12-13 this year.
Having competed at Augusta National played a role last year, with two returning finalists among the eight age-group winners.
In contrast to the dozen young people who have gone through competing at the home of the Masters Tournament, where the 90th edition will begin on Thursday, for most of the field it will be a new experience.
This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Hallie Fisch of Suamico, Wis., (Girls 12-13) made it to the National Finals on her fourth attempt, winning the Whistling Straits Regional by 17 points.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Fisch said. “There were so many good girls and I’m the one that gets to go. It means a lot. I really wanted to go to Augusta. I don’t like being in front of the cameras, but I’m going to be excited to go. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
It’s also the fourth time National Finalist Shepherd Cedar Choi of Westminster, Colo., (Girls 10-11) entered Drive, Chip and Putt. She won the Hazeltine National Golf Club Regional to advance after coming oh-so-close twice.
“I had gotten second place the past two years in the regional qualifiers,” Choi said. “It caused so many tears, but to finally make it this year is my greatest moment.”
Ziqing Wang of San Jose, Calif., (Girls 14-15) also achieved her long-standing goal of qualifying to compete at Augusta National. A Drive, Chip and Putt participant since age 9, she will see if her favorite golf accessory, a four-leaf clover ball marker, will bring her good luck at the National Finals.
A joint initiative founded in 2013 by the Masters Tournament, USGA and PGA of America, Drive, Chip and Putt is a free nationwide junior golf development program focusing on three fundamental skills in golf.
Local qualifying for the 12th season of Drive, Chip and Putt began last May and took place at hundreds of sites across the country. The top three scorers per venue, in each of the four age categories in separate boys and girls divisions, advanced to subregional qualifiers in July and August. The top two juniors in each age/gender division then competed at 10 regional sites for a chance to advance to Augusta National, where the three-pronged skill competition concludes on the 18th green, sometimes in dramatic fashion.
In 2025, a week before an emotional Rory McIlroy won the Masters to complete the Career Grand Slam on No. 18, the putting surface was home to drama in the Drive, Chip and Putt. Hudson Justus trailed Nicklaus Miller after two disciplines then sank putts of 30 and 15 feet. After the grandson of Hall of Famer Johnny Miller grazed the cup on his 15-footer, Justus had a one-point victory.
Justus was the eighth participant in DCP history to sink both putts, a feat this year’s crop of junior golfers will be trying to duplicate as they seek to make some history of their own.
