Julie McCarthy determined to enjoy Augusta experience; Power and Murphy set for Walker Cup
Forrest Little’s Julie McCarthy hasn’t played for her US college team since last October, but she’ll be living the dream this week when she tees it up in the second edition of the 54-hole Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The Dubliner (22) has fallen from a career-high 19th to 115th in the world since she accepted her invitation 13 months ago. But after the cancellation of the tournament last year, the decimation of the 2020 season by COVID-19 and the death of her grandfather before Christmas, she’s thrilled just to get the chance to play again.
“When I came back to college last fall, I played one tournament for Auburn in October and had a top-10 finish, but unfortunately, my granddad got very sick straight after the tournament, and I flew straight home after that to spend time with him,” reported the Swords native, who was a standout on the international team in their 2019 Palmer Cup victory over the USA, earning an invitation for the prestigious Evian Championship.
“I got to spend a nice few weeks with him before he passed away. But I’ve been struggling a little bit with my game since I came back in January and our team is very competitive with nine players playing for five spots, so I haven’t managed to get back into the lineup yet.”
McCarthy helped elite Auburn University in Alabama reach the semi-finals of the NCAA’s in 2019, but she’s determined to simply enjoy this week alongside college teammates Megan Schofill and Kaleigh Telfer and Irish teammate Olivia Mehaffey.
“It was very disappointing that it was cancelled last year, but we were very lucky that we were able to keep our invites and I am really looking forward to it,” she said.
The first 36 holes will be contested at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Augusta tomorrow and Thursday with the entire field then playing an official practice round at Augusta National on Friday before the top 30 who made the cut return there for Saturday’s final round.
The junior and seniors on the Auburn women’s golf team play Augusta National each spring which means McCarthy will be playing the famous course for the third time in Friday’s practice round.
“I was there three weeks ago now, and I was also there last year when we made the same trip, and it’s amazing, so special,” she said, revealing her father, Ronan, would be using the family travel exemption.
“After everything I’ve had to go through, I won’t be putting too much pressure on myself. I am looking forward to it with my dad coming over and I will just take a one shot at a time, add them up at the end and see what happens.”
Meanwhile, the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup side will be named today with Kilkenny’s Mark Power and Kinsale’s John Murphy hotly tipped to make the 10-man side to do battle at Seminole from May 8-9.
