Dreams come true for junior golfers at the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals

When the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, the junior golf development competition featured hometown heroics and a double Texas twist.

Evans’ own Kipp Madison won the Boys 12-13 division, capturing the overall title in his age group by half a point over the second-place finisher.

“When I saw that I actually won here, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this can’t be real. I’m in a dream.’ I was just so excited,” Kipp said. “To win at Augusta is just a dream come true.”

The Texas two-step featured a victory in the Boys 10-11 division by a finalist named Texas Terry from Austin. Later in the day, the Drive, Chip and Putt finalists also got a glimpse from San Antonio of the good things that could await them in the future.

At the Valero Texas Open, 1,100 miles from Augusta National Golf Club, Akshay Bhatia became the first Drive, Chip and Putt alum to qualify for the Masters Tournament. He earned his inaugural spot in the Masters field by winning the PGA Tour event with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.

Fifteen hours after arriving in Augusta from Texas, he acknowledged his feat at a Monday afternoon press conference.

“Being the first Drive, Chip and Putt participant in the Masters is really cool, so I’m hoping this can inspire a lot of kids that are having the opportunity to play,” said Bhatia, who also won the 2018 Junior Invitational at nearby Sage Valley Country Club in Graniteville, South Carolina.

Solid Shots

No doubt, Bhatia inspired the 40 finalists in the Boys’ divisions to earn their way back to Augusta for more.

“It’s already a win getting to this place,” said Texas, who won the driving phase of the event and finished third in chipping and putting. “Just to win it means even more, and I’m so excited to bring it back home to Texas.”

Kipp had to overcome a poor drive that went out of bounds on his first attempt. Fortunately, the better of the competitors’ two drives is used for their score, and his second drive of 252.2 yards was good enough for second place in that discipline.

“I hit one drive out, but I hit five solid, good shots,” said Kipp, who came in first in chipping. “You just need to be positive even when you hit a bad shot because you can hit one bad shot and think, ‘There’s no way I can make it now.’ You can always make it. You might just have to a do little bit better on other shots and just let the ball get to the hole.”

In the Boys 14-15 division, Connor Holden of Canby, Oregon, kicked off the day with a 276-yard drive, followed by a chip that landed within a foot of the hole, to win the overall trophy.

“For driving, I was really working on just hitting it straight, and not necessarily distance-wise. Just finding the fairway is the important part of this,” he said.

Parker Tang of Buckeye, Arizona, won the Boys 7-9 age group with consistency. He finished second in driving and fourth in chipping and sank his 15-foot putt to come in second in putting.

“I knew what I had to do and picked a line on the ball, and I made it,” he said of the 15 footer.

Hard Word and Perseverance

Nine players in last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur field were past Drive, Chip and Putt national finalists, including two age division champions – Yana Wilson and Kelly Xu. Many of the 2024 Girls finalists had aspirations to follow in their footsteps one day as well.

Girls 7-9 division winner Madison Pyatt of Eureka, Missouri, said she hopes to play in the Women’s Amateur in the future. Placing first in driving and tying for third in chipping, she said her younger sister kept her calm by making funny faces at her.

“I’ve been practicing so hard for two years, and now the hard work has finally paid off,” said Madison.

Noting that some of the ANWA competitors were not much older than her, Girls 15-16 division winner McKenna Nelson of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin hoped to qualify for the amateur tournament sooner rather than later. Competing in the national finals for the second time, she said her previous experience helped her last year.

“I was really nervous the first time, and now I feel like I can just have fun and try to enjoy it as much as I can. I knew better how my chips and putts rolled out, which is probably helpful,” said McKenna, who finished second in driving and putting.

Also making her second DCP Finals appearance, Lily Wachter of St. Augustine, Florida took the Girls 10-11 overall championship with first place finishes in driving and chipping.

“This year I fixed my mistakes and just kept calm,” said Lily, who got 2024 ANWA champion Lottie Woad’s autograph on her hat. “I took four deep breaths and just thought about myself and not the other competitors.”

Karis Reid of Carmel, Indiana won the Girls 12-13 division by eight points, finishing first in driving and chipping. She tried to qualify for the finals for six years.

“It was just such a great experience,” she said. “It just feels great to be able to say I won at Augusta National.”

This year the National Finals will be held on Sunday, April 6, and the field will include Appling resident Colton Johnson in the Boys 12-13 Division.

In addition, six of the 80 competitors are repeat finalists including 2018 national champion Ella June Hannant and Alexandra Phung, who is a 2023 national champion and 2019 and 2022 national finalist. The junior golfers represent 28 states, two Canadian provinces and India.

Local qualifying for the 2026 Drive Chip and Putt will begin in May at 357 sites nationwide and will continue throughout the summer. For more information, visit DriveChipandPutt.com or DCP social media.

By Betsy Gilliland