Yu-Sang Hou couldn’t pinpoint exactly which two holes that caused her to miss the final cut at the first annual Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, but she remembers the sequences vividly.
On the second day of the tournament, Hou, an Arizona Wildcats golfer, played a par-5 aggressively and attempted to get on the green in two shots to set up an eagle putt.
The ambitious approach shot steered her ball near the intimidating trees at the Champions Retreat Golf Club, then nestled in a bunker. Her sand woes continued; Hou took three shots to get out of a bunker alone to bring her score to 2 over par — putting her 4 over for the first two days.
Hou’s sister, Vivian, also finished the event at 4-over-par, failing to make the final cut — and a chance to play at Augusta National, home of the Masters — by two shots.
It didn’t spoil the fun for the Hou sisters — and UA women’s golf coach Laura Ianello. The thee watched other women’s amateurs play the final round at Augusta National.
“When I saw people playing in the final round there, one thing that was in my head: ‘I’m going to make the cut next year and be out there and play the final round there,’” Vivian Hou said.
Except there wasn’t a next year.
The COVID-19 pandemic blitzed the entire world, shutting down sports until at least the summer, which meant canceling the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The tournament returns this year, and both Yu-Sang, a UA senior, and Vivian, a UA sophomore, are back in it. They’ll play Wednesday and Thursday at the Island and Bluff nines. The top 30 players left after 36 holes will play Saturday’s final round at Augusta National.
To play at America’s most famed course would be a career highlight; the Augusta Women’s National Amateur is the only women’s golf event held at the course. The club added its first female members in 2012.
“It will be amazing,” Vivian Hou said. “Playing in the final round is the motivation for me.”
The Hou sisters spent last spring and summer back home in Taiwan because of the pandemic. Besides polishing their golf skills 7,000 miles away from Tucson, Yu-Sang and Vivian also threw out the first pitch at a Chinese Professional Baseball League game.
Jennifer Kupcho of the United States and Maria Fassi of Mexico walk over the Hogan Bridge on the No. 12 green during the final round of the 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Last year’s event was canceled because of the pandemic; the tournament returns Wednesday in Augusta, Georgia.
The sisters were “lucky Taiwan was doing pretty well controlling everything about COVID, and we had low cases,” Vivian Hou said. “We still had a tournament to play and then normal life back home, so we still got to practice and do workouts, so yeah, we were doing good back home. … We worked very hard to be prepared for every tournament.”
Yu-Sang Hou briefly considered turning pro, especially once the fall college season was canceled because of the pandemic.
The more she thought about it, however, the more she wanted to return for another collegiate season — and a shot at a second national championship. Yu-Sang was a part of the 2018 Arizona squad that won the national title over Alabama in Oklahoma; Vivian was not.
“We were 100% sure that we wanted to play in the national championship together.” Yu-Sang Hou said. “It could be my last year playing for the Wildcats. We want to make it memorable. … With my sister, it’s something really special.”
The sisters returned to the United States just in time for the Sun Devil Winter Classic at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, where Arizona finished third. The Wildcats are still searching for their first victory of the season after coming up short in the Wildcat Invitational (fifth), Clover Cup (second) and ASU Invitational (eighth). The UA has one more tournament, the Silverado Showdown in Napa, California, before the Pac-12 Championships in late April.
But first, they’ll play head east for a chance to play among the azaleas.
“There are no female players that can compete at Augusta National,” Yu-Sang Hou said. “So to have this experience is definitely something really special and something you’ll always keep in your book.”
