On a gorgeous spring morning at Augusta National, the mood matched the weather for the ninth edition of the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.
“This is easily the happiest day in golf,” Peter Jacobsen said on Golf Channel’s telecast. “We’re celebrating the future of the game.”
The future tended nicely to the present as 40 boys and 40 girls competed in the culmination of a process that began nearly a year ago with local qualifiers at 342 sites throughout the United States.
Conducted in partnership between the Masters Tournament, the PGA of America and the USGA, the Drive, Chip and Putt is a nationwide youth development program open to boys and girls age 7 to 15. The top three scorers in the local qualifiers advanced to subregional qualifiers, with the two top participants in each moving on to regional competition for berths in the National Finals at the home of the Masters.
“It’s very difficult to get to this stage,” said 2015 Masters Champion Jordan Spieth, who presented the prizes in the Girls 12-13 division. “To compete and win at Augusta National is always a good feeling.”
For Martha Kuwahara of Northbrook, Ill., the Girls 14-15 champion, who used strong efforts in the Drive and Putt skills to win in her second National Finals appearance, just getting to Augusta turned out to be half the battle.
Bad weather in the Chicago area delayed her Saturday flight to Atlanta, which was supposed to depart O’Hare Airport early in the morning but didn’t take off until mid-afternoon.
“It was midnight when we got here,” Kuwahara said. “I missed parties, I missed registration, I missed everything. We were all like, ‘We got all the bad luck out yesterday, so all the good luck is today.’ And it just all worked out.”
After a 5 a.m. wakeup, Kuwahara altered her approach in the Drive discipline to great effect, hitting a 241.9-yard shot to win.
“Last year I hit the first one out of bounds, then the second one was terrible,” Kuwahara said. “Last year’s strategy was to hit one in, softly, and then bomb the next one, and obviously that did not work out. This year, my coach and I just decided to just go at it for both drives. It turned out amazing.”
Coming through in the clutch isn’t easy.
“I think DCP is genuinely the most pressure I’ve ever felt,” said three-time participant Megha Ganne, who competed in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. “I've played in really big tournaments, and nothing's measured up to the nerves of hitting those six shots when I was 11, 13 years old. I just hope the kids realize what a big deal it is, and it’s OK to feel the nerves.”
It’s very difficult to get to this stage. To compete and win at Augusta National is always a good feeling.
Maya Palanza Gaudin, champion of Girls 12-13, had some help handling her jitters from her father, Stephen, who kept his daughter calm by quizzing her on Harry Potter.
“I can’t believe it,” said Gaudin, who made it the National Finals on her sixth attempt. “Just coming here was surreal, and then winning is on a whole other level.”
In the Boys 10-11 division, Brady Shaw came up short, finishing second, but not before doing something rare in the Putt competition. Needing a big rally after Drive and Chip play, Shaw holed the 30-footer and 15-footer, becoming just the sixth DCP participant to sink both putts at the National Finals. Shaw’s perfection put a little heat on Nealson Manutai, who led by two points going into the Putt portion.
Manutai did what he had to do, earning four points and totaling 23 points to edge the fast-closing Shaw by two. “It’s cool to be here,” Manutai said. “It’s an amazing experience.”
Manutai’s mother is a cousin of Tony Finau’s wife. Manutai has played often with the PGA Tour veteran, called “Uncle Tony” by Nealson.
“He’s really pushing me to keep going and to keep working hard,” Manutai said. “He gave me lots of tips.”
All the champions were invited to attend Road to the Masters Invitational Sunday evening, an EA Sports video game competition in which Finau is participating.
Two divisions required playoffs to determine a champion. Knox Mason prevailed over Jacob Egan in Boys 7-9, and Leo Saito defeated Aarav Lavu in Boys 12-13.
The third time at the National Finals was the charm for Alexandra Phung in Girls 10-11, a champion after finishing sixth in Girls 7-9 in 2019 and tying for third in Girls 7-9 in 2021. Phung’s 22 points earned her a two-point victory over Adelyn Rosado and Hana McGarry.
Ashley Kim prevailed in Girls 7-9, by three points over Minlin Ou. Jake Sheffield won in Boys 14-15, an accomplishment for the ninth-grader and also a tribute to his late uncle, Mike, who died in 2020. Mike was the older brother of Jake’s dad, Kevin, the person who introduced him to golf and in turn influenced his nephew’s immersion in the game.
The group chat that keeps everyone in the Sheffield family updated on Jake’s golf progress is called “The Uncle Mike Report.”
“Even though my Uncle Mike isn’t with us any longer,” Sheffield said, “I owe my love of this sport to him.”
The sport loved Sheffield back on Sunday.
