The Augusta National Women’s Amateur has been around long enough that most every one of the 72 players in the field doesn’t remember a time when the event didn’t exist.
The vision of Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley to establish a tournament “to inspire interest and participation in women’s golf and create a new pathway for elite players to fulfill their dreams” has been successful realized. So much so, that 48 of the top 50 players in the most recent edition of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking are teeing it up this week.
The unique format for the 54-hole event continues in 2026. The first and second rounds (April 2-3) will be played at Champions Retreat on Wednesday and Thursday, the Island and Bluff nines presenting their own demanding challenge. The top 30 players and ties then advance to compete at Augusta National during Saturday’s final round (April 5), but not before the entire field gets to play a practice round on the famed course when the tournament pauses for a day on Friday.
TV SCHEDULE
For a fourth straight year, Golf Channel and Peacock are broadcasting the opening two rounds at Champions Retreat. Coverage will be shown on Wednesday and Thursday from 1:30-3:30 p.m. EDT. NBC picks up Saturday’s final round coverage from Augusta National from 12 noon-3 p.m. EDT. The broadcast will also be streaming on Peacock and the NBC Sports app.
2 … Augusta National Women’s Amateur champions who are in the field: Tsubasa Kajitani (2021) and Anna Davis (2022).
6 … Players who finshed in the top eight a year ago who are returning in 2026: Runner-up Asterisk Talley, Eila Galitsky (T-4), Catherine Park (T-4), Andrea Revuelta (T-4), Megha Ganne (T-7) and Kiara Romero (T-7).
10 … Players in the in the field who are past Drive, Chip and Putt National Finalists, including 2014 Girls 7-9 National Champion Kelly Xu and 2018 Girls 10-11 National Champion Vanessa Borovilos.
13 … Players in the field who have advanced to the final round at least twice previously at the ANWA: Anna Davis, Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, Eila Galitsky, Megha Ganne (three times) Jasmine Koo, Maria Jose Marin, Paula Martin Sampedro, Farah O’Keefe, Meja Örtengren, Catherine Park, Andrea Revuelta, Amanda Sambach (three times) and Asterisk Talley.
23 … Countries and territories represented in the 2026 field. Japan leads the international contingent with five players, followed by Korea and Spain with four and Canada, France and Thailand with three each.
35 … Players making their Augusta National Women‘s Amateur debuts.
59 … Players in the field who are current, past or future college golfers in the U.S. with 32 colleges represented. Stanford has the most representatives from a single college with eight.
63 … The 18-hole scoring record in the tournament, shot last year in the first round by Megha Ganne at Champions Retreat.
73 … Wins on the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET) by alumnae of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Jeeno Thitikul leads all players with 13 wins across the two tours. Additionally, six major championships have been won by five alumnae (Allisen Corpuz, Grace Kim, Jennifer Kupcho, Yuka Saso (2) and Maya Stark).
204 … The 54-hole scoring record, set by Carla Bernat Escuder when she won last year’s ANWA, breaking the record previously help by the inaugural winner, Jennifer Kupcho, in 2019.
Carla Bernat Escuder opening tee shot in the final round of the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She would go on to win the title, establishing the 54-hole scoring record in the process.
Thomas Lovelock
FIELD Player, Country
Charlotte Back, Germany Brooke Biermmann, Wildwood, Mo. Vanessa Borovilos, Canada Sara Brentcheneff, France Eunseo Choi, New Zealand Beth Coulter, Northern Ireland Anna Davis, Spring Valley, Calif. Aphrodite Deng, Short Hills, N.J. Raegan Denton, Australia Anna Fang, San Diego Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, Spain Eila Galitsky, Thailand Megha Ganne, Holmdel, N.J. Ai Goto, Japan Yurina Hiroyoshi, Japan Kary Hollenbaugh, New Albany, Ohio Huai-Chien Hsu, Taiwan Anna Iwanaga, Japan Tsubasa Kajitani, Japan Veronika Kedronova, Czech Republic Grace Kilcrease, Springdale, Ark. Gyubeen Kim, South Korea Lauren Kim, Canada Katelyn Kong, Los Angeles Jasmine Koo, Cerritos, Calif. Chloe Kovelesky, Boca Raton, Fla. Louise Landgraf, France Arianna Lau, Hong Kong Dianna Lee, San Diego Elise Lee, Irvine, Calif. Mackenzie Lee, North Little Rock, Ark. Yujie Liu, China Kyra Ly, Portland, Ore. Marie Eline Madsen, Denmark Rianne Malixi, Philippines Maria Jose Marin, Colombia Paula Martin Sampedro, Spain Ava Merrill, Johns Creek, Ga. Camille Min-Gaultier, France Aira Nagasawa, Japan Farah O’Keefe, Austin, Texas Emily Odwin, Barbados Nikki Oh, Torrance, Calif. Soomin Oh, South Korea Meja Örtengren, Sweden Catherine Park, Irvine, Calif. Seojin Park, South Korea Macy Pate, Winston-Salem, N.C. Prim Prachnakorn, Thailand Megan Propeck, Leawood, Kan. Catherine Rao, Camarillo, Calif. Lily Reitter, France Andrea Revuelta, Spain Patience Rhodes, England Kiara Romero, San Jose, Calif. Elizabeth Rudisill, Charlotte, N.C. Amanda Sambach, Raleigh, N.C. Scarlett Schremmer, Birmingham, Ala. Bailey Shoemaker, Dade City, Fla. Andie Smith, Hobe Sound, Fla. Achiraya Sriwong, Thailand Megan Streicher, South Africa Asterisk Talley, Chowchilla, Calif. Rocío Tejedo, Spain Clarisa Temelo, Mexico Karen Tsuru, Carlsbad, Calif. Avery Weed, Ocean Springs, Miss. Kelly Xu, Claremont, Calif. Yunseo Yang, South Korea Ashley Yun, Diamond Bar, Calif. Amelie Zalsman, St. Petersburg, Fla. Reagan Zibilski, Springfield, Mo.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
