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R&A amateur champions set for Augusta challenge
01 Apr 25
3 mins
Some of the world’s best amateur golfers will descend on Augusta, Georgia this week and compete for one of the most coveted titles in women’s amateur golf.
The sixth edition of the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship (ANWA) will take place across three rounds of stroke play. Firstly at Champions Retreat for rounds one and two, with the final round played at Augusta National Golf Club on the eve of The Masters Tournament. Provided she remains an amateur, the Champion in Georgia will receive an invitation to the next five Augusta National Women’s Amateurs, the AIG Women’s Open, the US Women’s Open, the Chevron Championship, the Evian Championship and any USGA, R&A and PGA of America amateur championship for which she is eligible for one year. We’re taking a closer look at several players who gained their spots in the field through victories in R&A championships over the past 12 months and some notable others.Swede dreams in Yorkshire
Havanna Torstensson savoured the biggest win of her young career in the Girls’ Amateur Championship at Alwoodley in August last year. Torstensson eased to an 8&7 triumph over Matylda Krawczynska of Poland in the 36-hole Final at Alwoodley to win the 95th staging of the championship, and with it secured a spot at this week’s ANWA. The 16-year-old Swede put in a dominant performance to beat Krawczynska as she joined an impressive list of past Champions which includes major champions and Solheim Cup players such as Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist, Azahara Munoz and Georgia Hall. As well as a spot at Augusta, Torstensson’s victory also gained her an exemption into Final Qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open, The Women’s Amateur Championship and the US Girls’ Junior Championship. The 2024 Junior Solheim Cup participant will be making her Championship debut in Georgia this week.
Jeneath Wong - Malaysia
In winning the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific championship, Wong earned her spot at ANWA and places in three major championships in 2025 – the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, The Chevron Championship and Amundi Evian Championship.
History-maker Wong
Malaysia's Jeneath Wong survived a tense final round to pull off one of the greatest wins in Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship history. The 20-year-old endured moments of high stress before completing a first success for her country at Hoiana Shores Golf Course last month to gain her second appearance in ANWA. The 20-year-old wrote her name into the record books as the first Malaysian winner of the region’s pre-eminent women’s amateur championship with rounds of 65, 69, 64 and 68. Wong’s 72-hole aggregate of 18-under 266 was the lowest winning total in WAAP history, surpassing the 270 total of Chinese Taipei’s Chun-wei Wu in Thailand last year. Over the course of the four days in Vietnam, Wong made 24 birdies against just four bogeys and one double-bogey. She will be hoping to carry that form into ANWA and improve on missing the cut on debut in 2023.Green’s absence
One name missing from the 2025 field is American Curtis Cup star Melanie Green. Green enjoyed a dream debut at The 121st Women’s Amateur Championship to claim a two-hole victory over Scotland’s Lorna McClymont after an epic Final at Portmarnock in June 2024 to claim a place at ANWA. The 23-year-old, however, moved to the professional ranks late last year in her quest to secure an LPGA Tour spot and with that decision forfeited her exemption.
Former R&A Girls' Amateur Champion, Lottie Woad, will seek to defend the ANWA trophy that she lifted in 2024.