Caption: Amelia Garvey who will play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Photo credit: Golf New Zealand.

Amelia Garvey — from the US Open to the Augusta National Amateur

First it was playing in the United States Women’s Open. Now it’s strutting the hallowed fairways of Augusta National.

Canterbury golfer Amelia Garvey achieved a career milestsone when she got to play in the US Women’s Open last December and made a promising start.

She scored a one under par 70 in her first round to be right in contention but a five over par 76 in the second round saw her miss the cut by one shot.

Now it’s time for Garvey to reset her ambitions with a start confirmed for the second Augusta National Women’s Amateur to be played March 31-April 3 which is played at both Augusta National and the nearby Champions Retreat Golf Club in Georgia.

Garvey, who remains an amateur, qualified through her world amateur ranking last year as the tournament was postponed due to covid-19. She was ranked 41st in the world in 2020 with the top 30 Americans and the top 30 internationals being invited to the tournament.

Now ranked 21st in the world, the University of Southern California student says it’s a dream come true to get the invitation again.

“It’s pretty unreal. It has been my own dream for a while,’’ Garvey said.

“A lot of women golfers probably wouldn’t have dream't about playing Augusta. I always grew up watching Tiger coming down the stretch and we’ve never really seen a woman do it.

``When they played the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur two years ago it was great to see my own peers get that opportunity to play Amen Corner and the finishing stretch of holes in tournament conditions and playing for an amateur championship.

“It’s paving the way for women’s golf so it’s really cool to be a part of a tournament that is doing that.”

Garvey has her own history with this event having qualified for the 2020 event only for it to be stripped from the schedule due to the covid-19 pandemic. Receiving the letter in the mail was certainly welcomed by the 20-year-old who is looking to turn professional later this year.

“The letter itself is really tidy. I was over the moon to receive the letter and get that event back on the schedule after it was taken away last year amongst a lot of other things. It’ll be pretty special as this year’s event will be one of my last events as an amateur golfer.

“It’ll be a cool way to sign off and a great opportunity to put some good numbers up and hopefully walk up the 18th with a chance to win.”

The tournament will be played at the Champions Retreat Golf Club over the first two rounds with the top 30 making the cut to play Sunday’s final round at Augusta National.

Caption: Amelia Garvey. Photo credit: Golf New Zealand.

Although not everyone gets to play the final round at Augusta National, the entire field is granted a practice round on Saturday after the opening two rounds.

Despite the tournament being different to your usual tour event, Garvey will call on her experience at the US Women’s Open which was also played over two golf courses.

“The closest event I have played to this style of tournament is the US Women’s Open which was played over two courses,’’ Garvey said.

``Obviously, my preparation is mainly on the opening two rounds. I can’t forget about them and I need to get through them in order to have a chance at winning.

“Once those two days are done, I’ll have the next day to fully prepare for the final round at Augusta. An Augusta caddy will come around and give advice for that practice round whether I use that person in the tournament or not.

Garvey’s opposition will be top calibre but she remains positive.

“I want to go out and win tournaments rather than just competing with these girls,’’ she said.

``That’s always been my way of thinking. I don’t want to go out week after week needing to hole putts to make cuts, I want to give myself chances of winning tour events and majors as well.”