Written by Jason Logan, SCOREGolf
For a place with a history of race and gender discrimination, Augusta National has certainly been progressive over the last decade.
Having finally emerged from the dark ages and allowed women as members in 2012, the Georgia golf club established the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, giving female amateurs from many countries the chance to play its famed course the week before the Masters. This year’s Canadian representative is Thornhill’s Monet Chun.
Prior to that, the club helped increase global golf participation by creating the Asia-Pacific Amateur and Latin American Amateur championships, with the winners of those tournaments invited to play the Masters. Two years ago, it asked Lee Elder, the first African-American to play in the Masters, to be an honorary tournament starter alongside Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. (Elder died seven months later.) The club even created a Masters app that blows those of the PGA Tour and other media outlets away with its technology.
But the coolest thing Augusta National has created is Drive, Chip & Putt, doing so with the USGA and PGA of America in 2013. It is a free competition with multi-stage qualifiers held across the United States but open to juniors from around the world, with the ultimate carrot being a spot in the national final held at the home of the Masters.
Drive, Chip & Putt has brought countless kids into golf and seeing the smiling faces of qualifiers showing off their skills at Augusta National the Sunday prior to the Masters, not to mention those of their parents, has made for joyful television. The kids hit three shots in each of the three disciplines and points are accumulated for all nine shots. The putting competition takes place on Augusta’s 18th green and some past Masters winners watch in their green jackets, offering high-fives and photo ops.
Friendships are made here 🤝 #DriveChipandPutt pic.twitter.com/Fxgizg7Opw
— Drive, Chip & Putt (@DriveChipPutt) January 18, 2023
Canada has been well-represented at the finals over the years, with Savannah Grewal (2017), Vanessa Borovilos (2018), Nicole Gal (2019) and Alexis Card (2021) all winning in various age groups. This week, five Canadian kids will compete at Augusta: Ha Young Chang (Surrey, B.C.), Angelina Chang (Aurora), Ezekiel Wong (Markham), Ava Gilbart (Toronto) and Dawson Lew (Toronto).
Taking a break from after-school practise on the TrackMan simulator in his Toronto home in early March, Lew, who’ll compete in the Boys 12-13 division, provided a rather mature answer when asked about his prospects of winning.
“If I win, I’ll think it’s a bonus, but I’m happy to be there because it’s Augusta National,” said the Grade 8 student at the University of Toronto Schools, an independent secondary school affiliation with U of T.
Lew took up the game at six when he joined his father, Bowen, at a golf clinic at Markham Golf Dome for alumni of Peking University, where Bowen studied.
“He picked up a putter and knocked one in,” Bowen chuckled.
Lew was hooked from that day forward and he’s progressed to become an excellent player, with career-best rounds of 67 on three occasions. On a windowsill in the family basement sits a collection of golf trophies, medals, photos and mementos from his young career, including his official invite from Augusta National to the Drive, Chip & Putt finals. Lew competes regularly in Canadian Junior Golf Association and American Junior Golf Association events and works with local teaching professional Sean Casey.
“I’ve seen many juniors play at a high level at a young age but in many cases their focus changes as they get older,” said Casey. “With Dawson, you get the feeling that his love for the game and commitment to improving won’t be changing. He’s been one of the best players for his age in Ontario and Canada for about four years and I expect that will continue.”
Lew won his spot at Augusta at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., site of this year’s PGA Championship. There, he edged fellow Canadian Ben Julie. The two boys were tied at 132 points after their drives, chips and putts and split the drive and chip portions of their playoff, leaving one last shot for glory.
“Yeah, I got it done in the putting,” Lew said quietly. “I was pretty excited. It was one of my goals.”
While Lew qualified for Augusta in his fourth attempt, Gilbart did so in her third at Scioto Country Club in Ohio, where Jack Nicklaus once honed his skills. She won Girls 10-11 division there on the birthday of her favourite golfer, Brooke Henderson, and just like Henderson, she was inspired to play by an older sibling. In Gilbart’s case, however, it was her brother, Lucas. In fact, she wanted Lucas to be her caddie at Augusta but at 14 he’s too young. Her father, Mike, is her fallback.
“It’s very exciting to go there and chip and putt on the 18th green, to be where the professionals play — seeing them and get to talk to them and stuff,” said Gilbart, adding she’d be most excited to meet Jordan Spieth, whom she followed at this year’s Players Championship.
Augusta National’s mystique and exclusivity is what’s long made a Masters badge the most coveted ticket in sports. Dive, Chip & Putt participants not only get the chance to hit shots on the golf course, but they are gifted practice round tickets for them and their family so they may walk the course’s hallowed and hilly grounds together.
Call it the ultimate family golf trip.