By Joshua Picklesimer
Nara Hope Kim from the Atlanta suburb of Duluth tied for second in the girls’ 12-13 age group as the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals were played Sunday, April 2, at Augusta National Golf Club.
The competition has been the grand opening for the Masters golf tournament over the last 10 years. Children from ages 7-15 years old from all over North America compete for the Drive, Chip and Putt championship.
Kim was able to clinch the tie for second by coming in first in the putting portion of the competition in her age group. She totaled 22 points, with 10 coming in the putting. She finished behind Maya Palanza Gaudin of East Falmouth, Mass., who had 26 points.
Georgia had a several players come out and compete in the finals.
Hudson Justus from Gainesville placed eighth in the boys’ 10-11 age group. He started off in third after the driving competition, but after a ninth-place finish in the chipping and an eighth-place finish in the putting competition, Justus finished eighth.
Joseph Morinelli used to live in Augusta, but has since moved to Crozet, Va. He attended Augusta Christian School until the age of 6.
Morinelli attempted to qualify for the Drive, Chip and Putt finals for the past seven years. In his final year of eligibility to compete at the Masters, he did it, completing the dream he had.
Although this was great news for Morinelli and his family, they unfortunately had some bad news come in early March when Joseph lost his grandfather to cancer. His grandfather knew that Joseph was going to compete in the championships at Augusta National and couldn’t help but tell family and friends about it in his final days.
Morinelli worked hard to get to the Drive, Chip and Putt finals and, dedicated his performance to his grandfather.
The former Augustan would come in third in the driving competition and fifth in the chipping competition. He was in second place on the leaderboard going into the putting competition. After Morinelli placed fifth in the putting competition, he tied for second in his age group, the 14-15 boys’ division.
His second putt from 15 feet almost went in. If that putt would’ve fallen, he might have been able to take the championship home with him.
Jake Sheffield of Lenoir City, Tenn., was the winner in the boys’ 14-15 with 22 points. Morinelli tied with Kyler Heath of Hillsborough, Calif., for second with 19 points.
“It was pretty awesome,” the 14-year-old Sheffield said of winning at the home of the Masters. “I was just trying to focus on staying calm” said Sheffield. “It’s just six shots and you have to be under that pressure then you have to go out there and succeed.”
Sheffield will have the opportunity to come back next year to defend his title if he qualifies again.
Martha Kuwahara captured the championship in the girls’ 14-15 division. The Northbrook, Ill., golfer scored 24 points. She edged Saydie Wagner of Alpine, Utah, by a single point.
Kuwahara had played in the final at Augusta National last year and was ready for the competition.“I feel amazing after my performance,” said Kuwahara, who had 10 of her 24 points coming in the driving. She drove 241 and 225 yards, both inbounds.
“Last year, I drove my first one out of bounds,” she said, “and the second one was terrible. My coach and I just decided to go at it for both drives this year.”
A major highlight of the day came on the putting green as 16 putts were holed. Brady Shaw in the boys’ 11-12 age group was the sixth person ever to make two putts in the putting section.
Natalie Martin in the 11-12 girls age group also made two of her putts, and that made her the seventh person ever to accomplish the feat.
With most of these young folks playing at the National for the first time, there were a lot of nerves going around. Although when they get older and potentially make it to the Masters tournament, they’ll be able to come in knowing what to expect.
