Amateurs Share Insights On Choosing ANA Inspiration Over Augusta

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

Golfers face plenty of them on the course. But one of the hardest choices for some of the world’s top female amateurs is between invitations to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the ANA Inspiration, the first women’s professional major of the year. Now in its second year, the Augusta National tournament begins April 1, while the ANA Inspiration starts a day later. As long as the tournaments are staged concurrently, which appears likely at least in the near term, a player can’t compete in both.

This year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur will feature 72 amateurs from around the world. Among those who received invitations were Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey, Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels, China’s Angelina Ye, and Americans Kaitlyn Papp and Rose Zhang. But those players politely declined the trip down Magnolia Lane, choosing instead to play in the ANA Inspiration, to which they were also invited.

The decision wasn’t clear cut, as the reflections of three of these players indicate.
“I w...