Golf: Glenbrook North freshman wins national Drive, Chip & Putt contest
Glenbrook North freshman Martha Kuwahara wanted redemption, and she earned it.
A year ago she tied for ninth out of 10 contestants in her age group at the 2022 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals.
On April 2 at the 2023 Drive, Chip & Putt finals the Northbrook girl won the event, held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, home of The Masters.
Kuwahara's 24 points spanning the three disciplines was a point better than Utah's Saydie Wagner to win the competition for girls 14 and 15 years old.
"Very satisfied," a tearful Kuwahara told Golf Channel interviewer Cara Banks after the competition concluded.
"I didn't think I was actually going to win, but here I am."
Drive, Chip & Putt was founded in 2013 jointly by the Masters Championship, the United States Golf Association and the Professional Golfers' Association of America as a free, nationwide junior golf competition designed to grow the sport by focusing on its three fundamental skills.
Kuwahara, who in October tied for eighth-place individually to help third-place Glenbrook North earn its first Illinois High School Association trophy in girls golf, announced her arrival at Augusta National in dramatic fashion.
On the first swing of the Drive, Chip & Putt finals early Sunday morning she blasted what would be the winning drive. Her opening shot went 249.1 yards down the middle of a 40-yard sector, the distance measured on one bounce.
It's hard enough to qualify once for this national event, let alone repeat. Young golfers have to advance out of local, subregional and regional qualifiers.
Though Kuwahara earned the maximum points in chipping at each stage, including her regional held at Medinah Country Club, on Sunday her chipping placed fifth among the 10 girls in her division.
This still was an improvement over 2022, when as an eighth-grader at Wood Oaks Junior High she finished ninth in chipping.
Trailing Jolie Pastorick of Sarasota, Florida, 19-16 after the driving and chipping portions, Kuwahara rallied on the final event - putting on Augusta National's 18th green. As with chipping, scoring was determined by cumulative distance from the pin over two attempts.
Kuwahara's first putt rolled to within 2 feet, 6 inches of the cup. Her second putt came within 2 inches for a third-place finish in putting, earning just enough points to beat Wagner and Pastorick, third with 22.
A native of Osaka, Japan, who moved to the United States when she was 6, Kuwahara told Banks her experience at the 2022 national finals helped her with the break and distance on the green, and also braced her for the number of people in the gallery.
Eighty young golfers in four age divisions, both male and female and all with their own supporters, were there. Kuwahara's chaperon was Chris Oehlerking, director of instruction at The Golf Practice in Highland Park. Members of both Kuwahara's and Oehlerking's families attended the competition.
Banks noted that Kuwahara had dedicated her performance to her late grandfather, Yasuo Matsubara, who helped develop her interest in golf.
"I think he'd be very proud of me, because it was his dream to have one of his grandchildren come down here, let alone win. I'm just really happy right now," Kuwahara said, wiping away tears.