Carla Bernat was playing a tournament with her Kansas State team last Thursday when something very unusual happened. Stew Burke, her head coach, appeared in the middle of the street and handed her the phone. The Spanish golfer from Castellón had no idea what was going on. On the other side was a former Kansas State graduate who asked her a question. “Carla, do you accept the invitation from Augusta National to compete in the ANWA?”. Surprise and happiness. Bernat’s yes was heard all over Kansas.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur has issued two last-minute invitations due to the withdrawals of Tsubasa Kajitani, the tournament’s 2021 winner, and Minsol Kim, number 3 in the world ranking. First they recruited American Hailey Borja and last Thursday it was Carla Bernat’s turn.
The truth is that the invitation is more than deserved. In fact, it was surprising that she had been left out considering that she is among the top 50 players in the world and that her recent results with Kansas State are really good. So far this season she has already achieved one victory and three top 5s in six tournaments played. This will be Bernat’s second participation in the ANWA. She played it in 2022 and finished in 58th place. The first goal this year will be to make the cut to play the final round in Augusta.
With the addition of Bernat, Spain now has seven players in the ANWA, a record number. Along with the Castellón native are Cata Fernández, Julia López, Paula Martín, Andrea Revuelta, Rocío Tejedo and Carolina López Chacarra. Impressive.
Only the United States and Japan have more representatives in this tournament, which is considered one of the Grand Slams of the amateur world despite its youth, as the first edition was held in 2018. The United States has 36 golfers, as 30 places are reserved for the best American players in the world ranking and Japan has eight. Then comes Spain with seven and Sweden with six. There are 17 countries represented.
Remember that the ANWA is played by 72 golfers. It is a three-round tournament. The first two rounds are played at the Champions Retreat, after which a cut will be made with the top 30 and ties. The next day all will train in Augusta, including those who have not made the cut, and the final round with the top 30 and ties will also be held in Augusta, where the champion’s name will be decided.
