WAAP Dozen with Designs on Augusta National Glory

Augusta, Georgia, United States: With many returning veterans and a collection of new names, players from around the world will showcase their talent at the next week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).

There are no fewer than 41 international players in the 72-player field, all listed within the top-200 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

The fourth edition of the ANWA continues to give a stage to the best talent worldwide, returning several participants who have come close to victory, as well as 29 international players making their first appearance.

With the addition of Thailand’s Eila Galitsky earning the final spot after a five-stroke victory at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in Singapore a fortnight ago, there will now be 20 countries represented.

Japan will set a new championship record with 10 players in the field. Sweden previously held the record with six players in the inaugural event. The Japanese women are all ranked within the top-130 in the WAGR, led by number three Saki Baba.

Baba is the reigning US Women’s Amateur champion and has eight top-10 finishes since the start of last year. The 17-year-old finished runner-up at the 2023 Australian Women’s Amateur, behind compatriot and fellow Augusta National Women’s Amateur participant Mizuki Hashimoto, the 2021 WAAP champion.

Baba is one of six Japanese players making their championship debut, along with Mamika Shinchi, Miku Ueta, Nika Ito, Sayaka Teraoka and Yuna Araki.

Araki, the leading Japanese in joint third place at the fourth edition of the WAAP at Singapore Island Country Club, said: “The goal is to win and for that reason I am practicing building up my physical strength and increasing the number of hit balls to improve the stability of my shots. I can’t imagine who I am now compared to who I was last year, and I’m very happy and honoured [to compete].”

There are four players from Japan returning to the ANWA, including 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani. Joining her as second-time participants are Rin Yoshida, Hinano Muguruma and Hashimoto.

Yoshida, sixth in the WAGR, advanced to last year’s final round, while Hashimoto hopes to do the same in 2023.

“It was one of my goals to participate in this tournament again this year, so I am very happy and honoured to be able to play on the stage of my dreams again,” Hashimoto said.

“I will use my experience from last year to do my best to prepare myself so that I can play even a little better, and I will do my best to be able to play in the final round,” she added.

A total of 12 starters from the 2023 WAAP are in the ANWA line-up.

Joining Araki, Hashimoto, Teraoka, Ueta, Yoshida and Galitsky are Australian Justice Bosio, China’s Zhang Yahui, Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan, the 2022 WAAP champion, Koreans Kim Min-sol and Lim Ji-yoo and New Zealander Fiona Xu.