It took Tiger Woods 20 years to make it into the field at Augusta National. It took Jordan Spieth almost 21.
Jack McMullin made it prior to his 12th birthday — and he darn near won the thing, too.
The sixth-grader from Seattle was among the participants in the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championships in 2014, a joint venture of the USGA, PGA of America and the Masters Tournament to grow the game by encouraging fundamentals in junior golfers. Throughout the year, juniors compete in local and regional qualifiers, with the regional champions earning the right to compete in the National Finals at Augusta National, the Sunday prior to The Masters.
The field has grown significantly since McMullin — who placed second in the national competition in 2014, in a story you’ll read about in the next Cascade Golfer — qualified two years ago. In 2013, when he played his local qualifier at Meridian Valley, approximately 30 kids showed up. This year, that number is expected to more than triple, as the national attention the competition has received over the past two years sends more and more families out to their local qualifiers to chase the dream of teeing it up alongside major champions at America’s most famous golf venue.
Each competitor takes three putts, three chips and three drives; putts and chips are scored by how close they finish to the hole, while drives are scored by distance. The top scorers in each gender and age group advance from local qualifiers to sub-regional, and then regional qualifiers, where the competition is repeated. The top finisher from each regional qualifier (again, for each gender and age group) then advances to the National Finals at Augusta next April.
Registration is free, and dates have been set for the following regional qualifiers throughout Western Washington, and Spokane:
Sun., June 19 — The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie, Lacey
Sun., June 26 — Mount Si Golf Course, North Bend
Tues., June 28 — Lake Padden Golf Club, Bellingham
Thurs., June 30 — Meridian Valley Country Club, Kent
Sun., July 10 — The Creek at Qualchan, Spokane
To learn more, visit www.drivechipandputt.com.
