Drive, Chip & Putt is a joint initiative founded in 2013 by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and The PGA of America.
The Drive, Chip & Putt Championship (held at Augusta National) is a free nationwide junior golf development competition aimed at growing the game by focusing on the three fundamental skills in golf – driving, chipping and putting. To get to Augusta National, participants compete locally, sub-regionally and regionally in each of their age/gender categories in their quest to earn their place in the National Finals. On August 13, 2019, Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, CA, hosted a sub-regional qualifier with juniors who had their eye on competing at Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday before the Masters Tournament.
Drive, Chip & Putt focuses on the “creative and competitive spirit of girls and boys between the ages 7 â 15” and provides junior golfers an opportunity to play with other junior qualifiers from around the United States.
Each participant completes in three golf skills hitting 3 drives, 3 chips, and 3 putts.
One hundred eighteen juniors and their families came to the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex to compete in the sub-regionals. From here, two juniors in each age group will go on to the Regionals that will be held at Chambers Bay.
There were some familiar faces in the crowd at Haggin Oaks, including retired Swedish American professional golfer Annika Sörenstam, who is generally regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Her son Will was one of the participants in the event.
Director of Golf at Haggin Oaks, Mike Woods, showed Annika a picture of herself when she was at Haggin Oaks giving a clinic in 1996. That was the last time that Annika had visited the facility until the Drive, Chip & Putt event. The original photo can be found hanging in MacKenzie’s Sports Bar & Grille.
Several of the staff at Haggin Oaks remember the achievements and championship winnings of Annika which inspired them to start their careers in golf.
Continued good luck to all the junior golfers who qualified to Regionals being held at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington in September 2019.
