Eight junior golfers – four boys and four girls – were crowned champions at the seventh annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals held on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club and broadcast live on Golf Channel across North and South America. Conducted in partnership between the Masters Tournament, the PGA of America and the USGA, Drive, Chip and Putt is a free youth golf development initiative for junior golfers of all skill and ability levels, aimed at sparking a lifelong interest in the game.
The initiative welcomes boys and girls, ages 7-15, in four age categories. Tens of thousands of participants had the opportunity to qualify for the event, which began with more than 300 local qualifiers at courses across all 50 states in the summer of 2019.
From there, the top finishers advanced through more than 60 subregionals to one of 10 regional qualifiers at some of the nation’s most acclaimed venues and championship sites. Finally, the 80 regional winners across the four age divisions (40 boys and 40 girls) earned a trip to Augusta National Golf Club to participate in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the originally scheduled 2020 National Finals were postponed, and the 80 National Finalists were invited to compete on Sunday in the 2021 National Finals on the eve of the Masters Tournament.
One of those winners happened to be right from our backyard.
Brady Barnum of Dublin, Ohio, once thought he wasn’t a strong putter. After dedicating himself to lots of practice, he now loves to putt—and indeed his hard work helped him edge out the competition today. He sunk his first putt from 30 feet, and his second attempt stopped just 7 inches away from the hole, securing his title as the 2021 National Champion in his age group and tying the highest overall score of the day with 28 points.
Barnum, who placed fifth overall at the 2018 Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals, said of his experiences, “I put a lot of hard work into this, and it’s a privilege to be here at Augusta.” “COVID made things really hard. You know I always wanted to get here, let alone win,” Barnum told Golf Channel’s Steve Sands after claiming victory. “It feels really good to win here before I grow old and maybe play The Masters but you know a little experience might help. The work I put into this, this feels really, really good.”
NBC’s Mike Tirico responded to Barnum’s ambitious comments, “play that clip in the 2038 Masters.”
The Muirfield Village Golf Club member was also congratulated by Jack Nicklaus on social media.
