Furman golfer welcomes Augusta National Women’s Amateur challenge
There will be first-tee nerves. That’s a reality of golf, whether it’s a weekend at the local municipal course, a club’s member-guest tournament or competition at the highest level.
“But maybe a little extra this time,” Anna Morgan said in looking toward the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur that begins Wednesday.
Morgan knows from experience. This will be her third appearance in the tournament that has evolved quickly into the most challenging for women amateurs, and she welcomes the opportunity.
“It’s really neat,” said Morgan, a Spartanburg native and a graduate student at Furman who is ranked No. 23 in the world among women amateurs. “The field is so competitive and it’s hard not to be excited about being there.”
She tied for 21st in the 2022 tournament and missed the cut a year ago. Her game has been sizzling since.
Define “sizzling” this way: Since the 2023 ANWA, she has played in 11 college tournaments with five wins and nine top-10s. Away from the Paladins, she won the North and South Women’s Amateur, earned status on the professional Epson Tour and collected her second Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year award.
She’s been striving for those levels of excellence — and more — since deciding golf would be her game. She searches for improvement “pretty much every day,” whether on the practice tee or doing a deep dive into analytics from her performances.
“I’ve been working hard on my ball-striking,” Morgan said in discussing her recent efforts on the range. And, quite striking, she added, “that’s generally the best part of my game.”
She followed her dad and brothers into golf, competing in U.S. Kids’ events, then junior golf and high school tournaments before college and big amateur events. She has won both the South Carolina and Carolinas women’s amateurs and played in the U.S. Women’s Open as well as her college success. Last summer’s North and South triumph at Pinehurst will always be special.
She works with PGA of America professional Joe Hallett, which required some trips to his base in Nashville, Tennessee. But today’s technology — “I’ll send him videos, then we’ll talk and he’ll send me drills” — minimizes the travel.
Morgan hopes the combination of practice, hard work, desire and confidence leads to her ultimate goal, a spot in the major league of women’s golf, the LPGA.
“That’s been my goal for a long time,” she said.
Indeed, she plans to turn professional later this year. The timing depends on whether she is chosen for the U.S. Curtis Cup team, which requires her to remain an amateur.
But the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the tournament’s strong field is her next test.
“My game’s in a good place,” she said. “Like every tournament, I want to play my best and have a chance to win.”
That approach that has served her well. Just look at the results.
Palmetto State represented in ANWA
In addition to Morgan, the South Carolina contingent in the ANWA includes West Columbia’s Jensen Castle, who plays at Kentucky, along with USC golfers Hannah Darling and Louise Rydqvist, and Clemson’s Annabelle Pancake.
Darling, No. 19 in the world rankings, is a two-time All-American who will be playing in her third ANWA (T27, MC) and has finished first and second in her past two college events.
Castle, the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, has made the cut in both of her ANWA appearances (T12, T26). She advanced to the round of 64 in both the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the Women’s Amateur Championship in England.
Rydqvist, No. 45 in the world rankings, has five top-12 finishes, including a win in the Annika Intercollegiate, this season. Her win in the Annika earned her a place in the Annika LPGA event and she tied for 46th against the pros.
Pancake has posted five finishes in the top 25 this season, including a runner-up at the Landfall Tradition. She finished second in the Women’s Amateur Championship in England last summer.
The ANWA field will play 54 holes of stroke play, with a cut to 30 players and ties after 36 holes. The first two rounds will take place at Champions Retreat Golf Club on Wednesday and Thursday. The entire field will play Augusta National for a practice round on Friday. The final round will take place on Saturday at Augusta National.
The Golf Channel will televise the first two rounds 1:30-3:30 p.m. each a day. NBC will carry the final round (noon-3 p.m.).
Chip shots. USC’s women won their fifth tournament of the season, the Old Barnwell Derby Matchplay at the new Old Barnwell Club in Aiken Country, and the triumph advanced the Gamecocks to No. 2 in the national rankings. ... Frankie Harris finished second individually and the USC men placed fifth in the Hootie at Bulls Bay at Bulls Bay Club in Awendaw, the team’s first tournament since being involved in a traffic accident returning from an event in Georgia. ... Clemson’s women finished fourth in the Clemson Invitational at the Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset, and the Tigers’ men placed sixth in the Linger Longer Invitational in Eatonton, Georgia. ... Boyd Downey and Griff Randolph (Hilton Head) won the SCGA’s Senior Four-Ball title at the River Club in North Augusta.