Lily Wachter of St. Augustine captures the girls 10-11 division in Drive, Chip and Putt
Lily Wachter of St. Augustine is the First Coast's first national champion in Augusta National's Drive, Chip and Putt.
And she went from last to first in one year.
Wachter won the driving and chipping portion of the competition, then added a seventh-place finish in the putting to win the girls 10-11 division on Sunday at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Wachter, who was representing the Southeast Division, scored 24 points (10 each for winning the driving and chipping category and four for putting) to beat Keziah Swan of the Middle Atlantic division by five points.
Wachter had drives of 210.5 and 232.7 yards and chipped to within 6 feet, 11 inches and 2-8 on her two chipping attempts.
How did Lily Wachter close out her victory?
Wachter didn't get conservative on her putt attempts. She then fearlessly charged both attempts, knocking them 4-3 and 3-11 past the cup.
She told Golf Channel during an interview after winning that her father Kevin Wachter, a project supervisor for Maccurach Golf Construction, told her to worry more about what she does than what the players around her were doing.
"My Dad said don't worry about the other players," she said. "Play your own game."
She also said her strategy on the crucial putting competition, which came last (and she was the final player to putt), was a mind game she played with herself.
"I pictured a big hole and to get it in that big hole," she said.
Lily Wachter was the first girl to represent the First Coast
As far as going from 10th and last in 2023 to first in 2024, Wachter merely said: "I accomplished a lot on my way here."
Wachter became the first girl to represent the area in the Drive, Chip and Putt last year.
When did the Drive, Chip and Putt begin?
The Augusta National Golf Club launched the Drive, Chip and Putt in 2013, in conjunction with the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America. The national skills competition begins at the local level, with players having to negotiate three levels of competition to reach the national finals.
The competition is held the Sunday before the Masters Tournament.
Later on Sunday, Akshay Bhatia became the first DC&P national finalist to win a full-FedEx Cup points PGA Tour event when he captured the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. Bhatia won the Barracuda Championship last year, held opposite the Open Championship.
Alexa Pano was the first female DC&P national finalists to won the LPGA Tour last year.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Masterful finish: Lily Wachter of St. Augustine wins Drive, Chip and Putt
