By Emmy Trivette, Staff writer
For four years now, freshman golfer Katherine Schuster has gone up against 80,000 other kids from across the country in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition. She finished third in 2015; missed qualifying in 2016; was sidelined by surgery in 2017.
This was her year. At Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on the Sunday before The Masters, Schuster won the 14-15 girls division by 1.5 points to claim the prestigious title at one of the most prestigious golf courses in the world, in front of several of the most prestigious golfers in the world, against some of the most talented teen golfers in the country.
“No words could describe it. There were so many emotions,” Schuster said. “I’ve worked so hard for it. It was an amazing feeling.”
A sense of deja vu surrounded her as Schuster woke at 5 in the morning on the Sunday of the championship to enter the front seat of a black van, which took her and nine other female golfers down the heavily secured Magnolia Lane.
This time, instead of feeling incredibly nervous, she felt a sense of confidence.
“I was staying positive and I was trying to convince myself that I could win,” Schuster said. “My coach saw that I was more comfortable and put me in the mindset that I had an amazing chance to be able to go there at all compared to more than 80,000 other kids who couldn’t get in.”
Just like her last appearance at Augusta, Schuster began her day with practice swings in the pre-dawn darkness. At about 8, the real competition began.
For the 10 girls in the finals, the competition was about fours hours of standing, hand fidgeting and heat.
The competition began with the chipping portion. Golfers took their shots from off the green and earned a score based on the cumulative distance of how far their ball landed from the hole. Schuster placed second in chipping behind Jackie Feldman of Texas, earning nine points on the 10-point scale.
“I felt pretty confident with chipping. Driving was a little iffy, but I knew if I could do well in the short games I had a chance of winning it all,” Schuster said.
After chipping, Schuster tied for second in driving as competitors tried to hit the ball as far as they could while keeping it inside a 40-yard grid in two tries. Jami Morris of Cleveland won the driving portion. Schuster tied with Megha Ganne of New Jersey in the driving section, putting her half a point behind Morris as they headed to the putting green.
“It was pretty damp outside, so there was no roll to the ball, and I was hitting a fade, which isn’t what I needed to do,” Schuster said.
In the putting contest, Schuster drained a 30-footer, which gave her a huge boost of momentum. Her second putt from 15 feet missed by 3 feet, 11 inches, with the combined distance from the hole helping her tally seven points for a total of 24.5.
As the last shots were taken, Schuster had a feeling that she had come out on top, but didn’t want to get her hopes up until confirmation from the scoreboard. (See the official results here.)
“I thought I won, but I didn’t want to let myself believe it until I saw my name on the scoreboard,” Schuster said. “I felt so happy. I almost cried, but I held it in.”
She finished the day by accepting her first-place trophy from famous professional golfer Adam Scott — the 2013 Masters champion — and enjoying a meal at one of the most elite clubhouses in the country to celebrate her victory.
“Not many people can say they’ve taken home a title from Augusta National,” Schuster said with a smile.
Sophomore Emmy Trivette can be reached at trivetteem0626@daretolearn.org.
