RSF resident invited to play in first-ever Women’s Championship at Augusta National Golf Club

Rancho Santa Fe resident Brooke Seay, Francis Parker School Class of 2019, was selected to compete in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, to be held April 3 to 6 in Augusta, Georgia. The first-ever competition will be held one week before the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and will include 72 of the world’s top female amateur players. Brooke qualified to compete based on her standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship is the first women’s event to be held at the famous Augusta National Golf Club since it opened in 1933. It was only in 2012 that the club opened up membership to women.

Brooke says she is excited to compete at the prestigious golf club and to be part of the initial field of players selected for the competition.

“I think all of the invitees are ecstatic to compete in the ANWA for the sake of playing at Augusta alone. But for me, the most exciting part is the creation of the event itself,” says Brooke. “Until a few years ago, women were barred from membership at Augusta altogether, and a professional women’s tournament to parallel the level of excitement or prestige of the Masters has yet to be established. It’s exciting to see Augusta of all places—given its history of exclusion and emphasis on tradition—take initiative by introducing a women’s event.”

Parker’s girls golf coach Stacey Zoyiopoulos coached Brooke during her freshman, junior and senior years at Parker. Zoyiopoulos says she is proud of Brooke and what she has accomplished leading up to this moment.

“For Brooke to be one of a select group of young women to play the course is a phenomenal accomplishment. She is going to have an incredible experience and great competition,” says Zoyiopoulos. “This is a fantastic opportunity to play one of the most famous golf courses in the world. I have been watching players win and lose at ‘amen corner’ for decades; what fun it will be for Brooke to get to play this course. My hope for her is that she not only hits the fairways and greens but that she will have a moment to take it all in while she is playing at the home of the Masters.”

In 2017, Brooke competed in the US Women’s Open in Bedminster, New Jersey and finished in the top 5 for amateurs. In 2018, she placed 4th in the World Junior Girls Championship in Ontario, Canada.

Brooke, who in November announced her commitment to play golf at Stanford, looks forward to competing this spring at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and hopes the championship helps propel the female side of the sport forward.

“I’m honored to be a part of the inaugural field of women competing and I truly hope the event will grow into something that can contribute, even just in part, to a broader shift in attitude that recognizes and supports female athletes more than in the past,” says Brooke. —News release