3 Michigan Kids Heading to Augusta National
Drive, Chip and Putt is their ticket to the Hallowed Grounds
By Tom Lang
Lyla Hampton assumed she would be sitting at home, like hundreds of thousands of golf fans, watching the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals from her couch come April 2.
But an unexpected stroke of luck, and her excellent skill set, will transport her from her Grosse Pointe Park home to the hallowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club.
Back in the fall, Hampton was sitting at home when a call came that a competitor had withdrawn from the Reginal Final, set to take place about a week later at Scioto Country Club in Ohio, and as the first alternate she could play. She took that great opportunity, and, as they say ‘ran with it’ to win the Regional and earn her trip to Georgia next month.
“It’s just crazy to think that if that person didn’t cancel, I would have never gotten to (go to) Augusta,” Hampton told me. “I was shocked when they dropped out.
“I’m excited because I know Augusta is a very nice high-quality course, and I get to watch the practice round for The Masters right after. That is exciting, watching all the pros. Just the idea of being there is so cool, because not that many people get to go.”
No Lyla, they don’t. At age 14 and a freshman on the golf team at Grosse Pointe South, she has a little better appreciation for her fate than some. Hampton said she made two putts and had a chip in at the Scioto Regional to pull out the victory and qualify nationally for the girls 14-15 division.
She knows the stage is huge and will do her best to keep her cool.
“I’m pretty good with staying focused under the pressures of playing tournament golf, but I can get nervous over things that you know are important, and I know this is a big deal and a lot of people will be watching, so that’s a little nerve-wracking to think about,” she said.
Like many visitors and patrons to Augusta National, she’s also looking forward to being able to purchase Masters’ memorabilia at the only location it is sold.
“My dad’s credit card is going to be screaming.”
Robbie Melendez, Ann Arbor, Boys 10-11 Division:
Robbie Melendez has had a golf club in his hands since he could walk. Not all that surprising, since golf runs in the family. His older sister, Mia, is a two-time Div. 4 high school state champion and earned All-State Super team in the fall as a sophomore.
And did we say he has beaten her in golf – and his father, Robert.
Robbie has tried out for Drive, Chip and Putt every year since he was 8 years old, yet until this year he didn’t get past the Regionals that determine which kids go to Augusta. But this was his year, winning the 10-11 age division at Scioto Country Club.
Driving the ball is his strength but at Scioto he took 3rd in drive and 1st in chipping – thanks to all his chips ending within two feet of the hole; that’s what carried him to victory.
“I like driving, but putting and chipping is the most important thing,” about playing golf Robbie said.
His career (it sounds weird categorizing it that way at age 11) lowest score is a 64, shot during the U.S. Kids World Championship last round, to place overall runner up summer of 2022. He’s finished 5th in the past at the same event. Robbie is often playing summer events on the Michigan Callaway Tour, and the Top 50 Tour, winning numerous times in both.
He has thought about going to college and being a pro golfer someday; “but I think I should just keep trying to get better right now.”
Yet he is not one of those kids ‘specializing’ in one sport. He is a successful soccer player, and he runs track. In February he won the AAU 14-and-under indoor national championship in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter run, at the indoor track meet held at Eastern Michigan University.
Yet if pro golf becomes his calling, and if he were able to return to Augusta National as an adult and win, he knows what he would serve for the Champions Dinner: steak, hamburgers and mashed potatoes.
Paige Radebach, Webberville, Girls 12-13 Division
Paige Radebach is making her second trip to Augusta National, after first qualifying for the 7-9 Girls Division in 2019. This time around it’s a lot less surprising than the first.
At that time, she had only played golf for about one season. In April of 2018 she was watching The Masters on TV and said to her family: “’Oh, I want to go there someday, I’m want to be there. I’m going to be on that TV,’” Paige told me. “And my dad and my coach just kind of laugh it off, an 8 or 9 year old girls saying she’s going to make it to Augusta. And then sure enough, a year later I was. That’s my favorite memory, smack talking my family.”
She finished first in putting and 4th overall.
“I was really young the first time I went,” she recounted recently. “I want to take in the moment better, and maybe understand this opportunity I’m getting a little bit better, and remember it more.
“I understood it was a big deal, and I was being interviewed on TV, but I just didn’t understand what Augusta was and what it could mean to people. So, getting back there was a big goal because it meant a lot to me, looking back.”
The first trip she met Augusta member Condoleezza Rice – and Annika Sorenstam, who quickly became her favorite golfer.
Paige’s best skill is putting, but has a family friend as her swing coach, MSU Men’s Golf head coach Casey Lubahn. She has a nice set up in the basement to hit and chip into a simulator screen, plus a putting green.
She gets to brag that she beat her dad, Matt, at golf when she was 11, and Matt said “she hasn’t looked back,” adding that he doesn’t always go golf with her because she never lets it down that a 13 year old girl beats him every time.
“He still gives me competition,” she laughed. “He can still be a little difficult sometimes to beat.”
