The Masters Tournament is a tradition unlike any other, and now a new tradition has reared its head. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur introduced in 2019, occurring a week before the annual tournament, has become a new staple signaling a new era for the women’s game. Wake Forest women’s golf has been well represented in recent years, with Jennifer Kupcho winning the inaugural event. This year, three Demon Deacons competed. Sophomore Carolina Chacarra, senior Rachel Kuehn and graduate student Emilia Migliaccio all made the trek down to Augusta to compete March 29 to April 1. 

“This is the most exciting time of the year for all of us,” said Head Coach Kim Lewellen. “We’ve been playing really well and had high finishers in all of our events this year. It’s been an exciting time for Wake Forest golf.”

The opening rounds of the tournament kicked off at Champions Retreat before the third and final round at historic Augusta National. The reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, Chacarra made her third appearance at the event.

“It just feels incredible to play that course with that history in a competitive realm,” Chacarra said. “After growing up watching the Masters, it’s just really cool to actually be there playing that course.”

In the opening round, Chacarra struggled on the front, carding back-to-back bogeys on holes five and six. She found some momentum making back to back birdies at the turn and finished her opening round one over par. In the second round, Chacarra found herself in trouble again with a double bogey on the par-five third hole and a bogey on the fourth. She found her stride with four birdies on the round but only managed to finish two over par. It was a highly competitive field at this year’s event, and Chacarra’s combined score of three over par fell one stroke shy of making the cut to play at Augusta National on Sunday. 

Kuehn also made her third appearance at this event. She finished inside the top 10 at last year’s tournament and looks forward to the date on her calendar every year.

“It’s so special every time, it doesn’t get old,” Kuehn said. “There are so many little girls that are seeing this on TV. They can see some representation and see people that aren’t that much older than them playing in this incredible event.”

Kuehn carded six bogeys in her opening round but remained competitive with two birdies to finish four over par. In round two, Kuehn was even through the first three holes, but back-to-back bogeys killed her momentum. She played strong on the back nine, remaining even through five holes. But with five bogeys on the card, Kuehn finished nine over par for the event and missed the cut. 

This was Migliaccio’s fourth appearance at the event, and she made the cut to advance to the final round Saturday at Augusta National. The last time she made the cut back in 2021, she came up just short in a playoff for the title. In Migliaccio’s opening round, she carded a bogey and birdie before the turn. Yet, three birdies in a row on holes 12, 13 and 14 on the back nine helped her finish one under par and tied for seventh heading into Thursday’s second round.

In the second round, Migliaccio found herself in trouble early with a bogey on the first hole and a double on the third, yet another string of three birdies on holes seven, eight and nine helped her to make the cut by two strokes. In the final round at the fabled Augusta National, Migliaccio bogeyed the first but rebounded on the par five second with a birdie. She found her stride, making six straight pars and birdied the ninth hole to finish the front nine at one under.

The back nine at Augusta National includes the most famous stretch of holes in golf. Holes 11, 12 and 13, labeled Amen Corner, can either make or break a player’s round and chances of a title. Migliaccio managed well on hole 11 with a par, but on the par-three 12th hole, she settled for a bogey and carded a double on the 13th hole. Migliaccio couldn’t find her stride after that, going five over through the next four holes. She managed to par the final hole and finished eight over for the tournament in a tie for 29th. 

Now, all three golfers look forward to the next step. Wake Forest women’s golf starts its postseason play on April 13 with the opening round of ACC Championship, and the Demon Deacons will be looking to defend their title.