Boyette: Take it from Annika: Women’s amateur event will be ‘huge’

Annika Sorenstam, who knows a thing or two about making history, senses this week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur will be “huge.”

The 54-hole tournament will showcase 72 of the best female amateurs from around the world. Sorenstam, an LPGA Hall of Famer, is acquainted with most of them because nearly 60 of them have played in one of the tournaments run by her foundation.

Photos: Tuesday Augusta National Women's Amateur Practice

“I’m excited for them, what a great opportunity,” she said in a telephone interview last week.

Sorenstam won 72 times on the LPGA Tour, including 10 majors, but is still remembered for teeing it up and competing against the men of the PGA Tour in 2003 at Colonial Country Club. She was the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event in nearly 60 years.

Even though she missed the cut that week, she said she learned a lot about herself.

“I use that example a lot about having a dream and not being afraid to try, test yourself, step out of the box,” Sorenstam said. “Take opportunities as they come, and you’ll be amazed at how you handle the situation and how much stronger we really are when we are put in situations like that.”

That lesson will come in handy for this week’s field as they compete for the 30 spots in the final round, which will be played at Augusta National.

“I use that a lot when I talk to these young girls,” she said. “When they tee off at Augusta National, they’re going to have to rely on all the experiences they’ve had.”

At Champions Retreat on Tuesday, the field got a chance to play a practice round even though the morning started cold and wet.

The players in the exclusive field share Sorenstam’s feeling that this week will make a difference in the long run.

“I think this is huge for women’s golf in general, women’s amateur golf, too, to put us on the map a little bit,” said Amanda Doherty, an Atlanta native who plays at Florida State. “The Masters is such a huge thing. People who don’t even really watch golf any other time of the year or like golf that much seem to watch the Masters, so I think this is really good and maybe will help put women’s golf on the map a little more.”

Sorenstam was on hand last April when Augusta National and Masters chairman Fred Ridley announced the creation of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She will be in Augusta later this week, first for a players banquet Friday night and then she will join Nancy Lopez, Lorena Ochoa and Se Ri Pak on the first tee Saturday morning at Augusta National.

Sorenstam has played Augusta National, and she said she has been trying to visualize how the tournament will set up the course for the women.

“I don’t know but I think around the greens is where it will be the trickiest,” she said. “We don’t really have courses like that, and I don’t know what the tournament speed will be. From tee to green I think they will do just fine, but putting ball in the right places on those lightning-fast greens (will be the key).”

Sorenstam said she is bullish on the future of the women’s game. Just 15 years ago, she said, only 17 percent of junior players were girls. Now, that statistic has doubled.

“You see the results and it makes you want to do more,” she said.

In partnership with Bank of America, which is one of the presenting sponsors of this week’s event, Sorenstam enjoys spreading the word about empowerment and equality.  

Even though she’s more than a decade removed from her playing days, Sorenstam remains an inspiration.

“We can do a lot more, for sure,” she said. “This is a huge step in the right direction, and for an organization to have this initiative has opened everyone’s eyes. Little girls have dreams, too, and we need to continue to foster them and inspire them because that is the next generation.”