Monet Chun has three roommates at the home she shares as a junior at the University of Michigan, but luckily when her letter from Augusta National Golf Club came earlier in 2023, she was the one who got to open it first.
Chun, who is from Richmond Hill, Ont. and is in her third year as a Michigan Wolverine, will be Canada’s representative at this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur (“ANWA”).
Canada has had two golfers play the newly introduced amateur championship – Brigitte Thibault (twice) and Savannah Grewal last year.
Chun, however, may have the most robust resume of any prior Canadian to tee it up.
She won the Big 10 Championship last year at Michigan and made it all the way to the finals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She’s a long-time member of Golf Canada’s national team and also won the 2022 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship plus a handful of Future Links events.
In short, she’s always been a Canadian star with a bright future.
“Being able to wear the Golf Canada logo and representing the country means a lot. Sometimes I think people are more excited for me than I am for myself,” admits Chun, with a laugh. “But I’ve definitely got a good support system. Everyone is super excited I did get in (to the ANWA) and hopefully I can perform to the level that everyone is hoping for.
The ANWA will once again be contested over three rounds, the first two played at Champions Retreat Golf Club. A cut will take place after 36 holes and the final round, played at Augusta National Golf Club, will feature the top 30 golfers including ties – new for 2023.
All those who earned a spot in the field (Chun, like Thibault and Grewal before her, did as Canada’s highest-ranked female amateur) will get to play a practice round at Augusta National itself.
The first two rounds at Champions Retreat take place March 29 and 30, the practice round is March 31, and the finale is April 1.
This year’s field is the strongest in the tournament’s history, with 29 of the top 30 in the current women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking teeing it up.
Rose Zhang will enter the championship as the top-ranked amateur in women’s golf – a spot she’s held for nearly two and a half years – and will be one of three players who will have competed in all four editions of the ANWA (Emilia Migliaccio and Erica Shepard are the others). Two past champions will tee it up for the first time, as both Tsubasa Kajitani (Japan) and Anna Davis (U.S.) are in the field.
There are 36 first-timers, including Chun, in the field, and nineteen countries represented.
Chun will have her sister, Adele, on her bag for the week. Adele is two years younger but was a star on the University of Toronto’s golf team in 2021 (she won three times) before pivoting to concentrate on school.
Chun says she’s preparing for two tournaments at once, since she and her Michigan teammates will be heading to the Ping/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Arizona, the week prior to the ANWA.
“I looked at some of the yardages (of Champions Retreat) and prepped like any other tournament,” she says.
Growing up just north of Toronto without a TV meant Chun doesn’t have many Masters memories as a youngster, but when Tiger Woods captured the Green Jacket in 2019 she was at an airport watching it with a bunch of other golf-mad folks, and that, she says, is her most special Masters memory.
Chun, who was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2021, has had a solid campaign so far in 2023 and says her short game has been the key to her successes over the last 18 months or so. Making more putts, she explains, helps to keep momentum going for her.
It's here! Monet Chun heads to Augusta this week to play in @ANWAgolf — one of the 🌎's top amateur events!
– 4 days
– 72 golfers
– 36 on Champions Retreat
– Cut to 30
– (Field) practices on Augusta
– Final 18 on Augusta 🏆ANWA | https://t.co/SrjurSeFRR#GoBlue 〽️⛳️🏆 pic.twitter.com/feDwmxRLGS
— Michigan Women's Golf (@UMichWGolf) March 27, 2023
And while the week of the ANWA is set to be an important one personally and professionally, here’s one fun reminder that she’s still just a kid – since she’s gone for a week from school she has to take three exams before she leaves for Georgia and will likely have to do some online lectures, too.
She would love, however, to school the field of the ANWA and become the first Canadian to make the cut at the prestigious championship.
“I’m just going to go out and play my game and see what I can do – that’s what I’m really focused on,” she says. “But definitely would be a lot of fun to play for the whole week.”
The fourth playing of the ANWA begins March 29th. The first two rounds will be broadcast on Golf Channel, 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET while the final round from Augusta National is from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. ET on TSN and NBC.