Gianna Clemente, like many, thought after watching Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi battle in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019. I really want it
At 14, Clemente will be the youngest player at this year’s event, but it still took her longer than she expected to get there. Clemente said on Monday at her LPGA event last year that she became the youngest player to qualify for three straight times, but her coach Spencer said the only part that surprised Graham was: She was unable to participate in any of the competitions.
Clemente, who turns 15 on March 23, is not a favorite at this year’s ANWA, which runs from March 29 to April 1, one week before the 87th Masters. That’s Rose His Chang, a super-his sophomore at Stanford University, who first made his No. 1 spot on the World Amateur Golf Rankings in September 2020. Anna Davis won last year and Tsubasa Kajitani of Japan is his 2021 winner at the age of 17.
Clemente, who will graduate in 2026, will be competing in the Junior Invitational in Sage Valley this week as the No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Sagarin Junior Rankings. She is 57th in WAGR. At age 11, she became her third youngest player to qualify for the All-American Women’s Amateur.
“When I saw the invitation on my doorstep, wow, wow,” said Clemente, who recently tied for 16th at the Epson Tour’s season-opening event in Winter Haven, Florida. major champion.
The Clemente family took an early interest in golf, and after Gianna completed her junior year, the family decided to spend time in Ohio and Florida. It was around that time that I switched to an online school.
“I remember them sitting me down and saying, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do, are you sure?'” Gianna said. “Of course, as an eight-year-old, I was like, ‘Oh, right?’ I don’t think I fully realized what I was getting into at the time. Obviously, it doesn’t work for everyone, it’s not for everyone, but it worked for me, and it’s working pretty well now.”
Gianna Clemente and her father Patrick (Courtesy Epson Tour)
Patrick Clemente called it a weather-dependent decision. He and his wife Julia saw a spark in her daughter’s eyes and a desire to get out and practice more than the Ohio winters allowed. South Florida also had more tournament options, and Gianna had many friends who lived in the area.
Graham, who has worked with Gianna since she was six, said she was most impressed with her “well-proportioned killer instincts.”
Patrick agrees, saying that Gianna, winner of more than 130 tournaments, doesn’t take losing either in billiards or table tennis lightly.
“If anything, we need her to relax now and then instead of getting more intense,” he said.
After Clemente was eliminated at the Women’s Junior Nationals last summer, Graham and Patrick sat down and quickly identified two areas that needed attention: her putting and distance control in the wedge game.
“She was a ball hitter as opposed to a rolling type of stroke,” said Graham, who runs the Junior Golf Performance Academy in Naples, Florida.
It wasn’t long after these intensive efforts that Clemente was on track in Monday’s LPGA qualifier. The rhythm and timing of her stroke is now a strength.
Graham described Gianna as the straightest ball striker she’s ever seen in junior golf, and the next level of development she worked on included how to shape the ball and troubleshoot shots. We need a game area that has never been played before.
“She’s a pure ball striker,” said Graham, who caps a high-level program called “The Process” for 15 elite juniors around the world.
Gianna reports that she recently became passionate about fitness. She has grown 10 yards in the last 6 months.
She is also obsessed with paddleboarding and, like most teenagers, admits that she spends a lot of time listening to music on her mobile phone.
But the truth is, it’s golf that eats her heart.
“I really spend all my time on the golf course, but it’s a matter of choice,” she said. If you gave it to me, I would spend 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on the golf course.
“Outside of golf, I’m just a normal teenager.”
Gianna signed a contract with IMG last fall for a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) representation. Her family has taken a long-term approach when it comes to partnerships and has yet to sign anyone.
Patrick said the two main takeaways from qualifying that Monday were that she loved it and learned that she needed to work on it.
“The level of the short game and the wedge game that we saw was on another level,” said Patrick. “It was amazing for her to see it in person. She literally saw it 20 days in a row.”
Gianna Clemente plays her tee shot at the 4th hole in the first round of stroke play at the 2019 US Women’s Amateur at Old Waverley Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi, on Monday, August 5, 2019. increase. (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)
Last December, Clementes took a preview trip to Champions Retreat Golf Club, where the first two rounds of ANWA will be played at Island Nine and Bluff Nine.
This year, the tie for the top 30 players will advance to Saturday’s final round at Augusta National. But first, every player on the field has a practice round on the iconic course.
For the first time ever, the first two rounds will air on The Golf Channel from 1:30-3:30 PM ET. NBC will air the final round from 12:00 PM ET to 3:00 PM ET. Clemente has had a good deal of experience playing in front of crowds and TV cameras in the last year.
“The most special thing I can say about her is that she continues to defy the thought process of how good a young girl can be against an older player.
“She thrives under pressure.”
