Three members of the Georgia women’s golf program – current Bulldogs Caterina Don and Candice Mahe and signee Isabella Holpfer – have been invited to compete in the 2020 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship on April 1-4.
The second-annual tournament will feature 72 of the world’s top women’s amateur golfers competing over 54 holes of stroke play. The first and second rounds will be played on April 1-2 at the Champions Retreat Golf Club. The field will then be cut to 30 golfers for the final round at famed Augusta National Golf Course on Saturday, April 4. NBC will televise coverage of the final round.
“This is a great honor for Caterina, Candice and Isabella,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “It’s shows all the hard work they’ve put in and the support their national teams have given them in their journeys. It’s quite an accomplishment for them and everyone in the field. For us as a program, to have three golfers invited shows the foundation we’re building and the commitment we have to move to the top of women’s college golf. We’re continuing to attract great talent and really great people and look forward to furthering the history and tradition of Georgia Golf.”
In the most recent edition of the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), Don is No. 16, Holpfer is No. 25 and Mahe is No. 31.
Don joined the Bulldogs last fall and was Georgia’s top performer during the 2019 portion of the season. Don became the first Georgia golfer in more than two decades to capture medalist honors in her collegiate debut win she won the Minnesota Invitational. She was a combined 9-under over 11 rounds in the fall, finishing with a team-best 70.91 average. Don also led the Bulldogs in par-or-better rounds (seven), birdies (37) and top-10 finishes (three).
Don competed in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur last spring and tied for 12th overall.
Mahe enrolled in Georgia this week and will compete for the Bulldogs for the remainder of the season as a freshman. She has recorded five victories and posted top-10 individual finishes in 21 of 62 WAGR events since 2015. Mahe won the 2019 Spanish International Ladies Amateur in March and the 2018 French Girls Amateur. Mahe was a member of the French National Team for the 2019 European Ladies’ Team Championship and the 2017 and 2018 European Girls’ Team Championships.
Holpfer signed a letter of intent with Georgia in November and will be a freshman this fall. She became the youngest golfer ever to win the Austrian Match Play Championship in 2014 and has three more WAGR wins on her resume. From a team perspective, Holpfer was chosen to represent Europe in the 2017 Vagliano Trophy, and she also represented Austria at the 2019 European Ladies’ Team Championship and the 2016 and 2017 European Girls’ Team Championships.