Young golfers begin quest to reach Augusta National — PHOTOS

The Masters is still more than nine months away, but two dozen young golfers took the first step last week toward making their way to Augusta National in April.

Nearly 350 local qualifiers for the annual Drive, Chip & Putt competition are taking place across the country, as boys and girls ages 7 to 15 are trying to earn their way to the culmination at Augusta on the Sunday before the Masters.

That includes the Las Vegas qualifier, which took place Thursday at Pauite Golf Resort, where two dozen players advanced to a subregional in Phoenix in August. Winners there will proceed to a regional qualifier in Hawaii, with one player in each age bracket from there earning their way to Augusta.

That’s the path Charlotte Halstead took last year as the only Las Vegas player to advance to Augusta, where she finished 10th in the girls 7-9 competition. She’s stepped up to the girls 10-12 bracket this year, but again won her group at Paiute.

The competition has every player drive for distance, and chip and putt from different distances for closest to the hole. Players get three attempts at each skill, and points are awarded based on where they place among the competitors. Scores are added up to determine winners. In the local qualifiers, the top three finishers advance to Phoenix.

Winners at Paiute were:

— Girls 7-9: Ady Young, Ruby Auclair and Mikaela Rose Osborn, all from Las Vegas;

— Girls 10-11: Charlotte Halstead (Las Vegas), Isabella Yan (San Diego), Willow Johnson (Henderson);

— Girls 12-13: Camille Shah (Las Vegas), Margot Masse (Las Vegas), Reya Maddipatla (Henderson);

— Girls 14-15: Ellie Prosser (Henderson), Ella Bostrom (Las Vegas), Mackenzie Wilkinson (Las Vegas);

— Boys 7-9: Landyn Kelly, Nathan Wang and Finn Deighan, all from Henderson;

— Boys 10-11: Aaron Zhang (Chandler, Arizona), James Bostrom (Las Vegas), Maddox Henderson (Las Vegas);

— Boys 12-13: Connor Anderson (Las Vegas), Carl A. Holly (Henderson), Emiliano Martinez (Las Vegas);

— Boys 14-15: Jack Johnson (Washington, Utah), Galen Luege-Long (North Las Vegas), Philip Herrera (Las Vegas).

U.S. Junior qualifiers

Palm Valley in Summerlin hosted qualifiers last week for the girls and boys U.S. Junior Amateur, with five players emerging with berths in the national tournaments.

On the girls side, Brynn Kort led the way with a 6-under 66, while Hailey Kim won a three-way playoff for the second spot after finishing at 4-under 68.

Kort helped Coronado High to multiple state titles during her high school career and will be heading to Texas A&M in the fall to play for the Aggies. She birdied five of her first eight holes and coasted home with a bogey-free round.

Kim is an incoming high school freshman from Simi Valley, California.

On the boys side, Hudson Vedder and Drake Harvey were co-medalists after 3-under 67s, while Daniil Sokolov shot 68 and won a four-way playoff for the final spot.

Harvey is a three-time Class 4A state champion entering his senior season at Sky Pointe already committed to BYU in 2026. Vedder recently graduated from high school in Laguna Niguel, California, and will play college golf at Central Michigan.

Sokolov is a 14-year-old from Qatar.

The boys Junior Amateur will be held July 21-26 in Dallas. The girls Junior Amateur will be played July 14-19 outside Atlanta.

Greg Robertson can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.