As the world sits back and enjoys an unusual Masters Tournament in November with no spectators, former Malaysian No 1 ladies amateur Loy Hee Ying will be especially intrigued as she actually played Augusta National Golf Club last April during the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Loy and compatriot Alyaa Abdulghany both played the revered Augusta National course in the event’s official practice round on April 5. The first two rounds had taken earlier place at Champions Retreat Golf Club, with the top 30 players progressing to the final round at Augusta National. Both Loy and Alyaa missed the cut but joined the entire field for the practice round.
Winner of numerous amateur titles in Malaysia and also in the US, Loy has been in the States since 2016, playing on the collegiate circuit for East Tennessee State University. She is currently doing her MBA there while helping out with the college golf team as graduate assistant.
Loy spoke about her Augusta National experience (including how she fared on the infamous Amen Corner at Holes 11 to 13) during Episode 14 of The Sweet Spot, a fortnightly Facebook ‘live’ show by Gila Golfers in association with ParGolf. Following are excerpts from the interview (to view the entire show, scroll to the bottom of this page).
Describe the overall experience of being at Augusta National Golf Club.
Loy: The overall experience was very unreal. The whole atmosphere at Augusta National was just amazing, to be able to go in the main gate and then to see all the landscaping and driving up to the clubhouse … it’s just amazing. And then you’ve got people greeting you outside the clubhouse, you feel like you’re one of the pros that’s getting ready for the Masters.
We actually went through the clubhouse and everything, you see the proshop, a lot of places that regular people don’t have the opportunity to see.
Basically we got to do what the professional players do. They actually opened what they call a TPA, the Tournament Practice Area that they only open for the Masters, so we got to practise there. There were volunteers there and they asked us if we wanted Pro V1 or Pro V1x balls, and if you need Trackman it’s there. The practice facility obviously was amazing and we actually went there a couple of hours before the practice round just to take it all in, all the views and stuff.
What was it like playing one of the most famous golf courses in the world?
Loy: The course is like what you see on TV, view-wise. It’s a very nice layout obviously and the weather was great. But like what a lot of people say, the hills are more obvious and you feel it more when you are actually there rather than looking at it on TV. Now when I look back at my pictures, it doesn’t show how severe the undulations on the greens are.
During the practice round, they didn’t roll the greens compared to the following day when they played the final round, so I wasn’t playing at the speed that the men pros play during the Masters. But I would say that with the hills, you have to know how to play off different lies, and into the greens you need to know where to land the ball obviously, everybody knows Augusta. You need to have a great short game and putting.
I think the big thing was the drive was pretty wide for me. For the practice round it seems a lot wider but during the final round when there were huge crowds, the fairways actually do get a lot smaller.
It’s not like the US Open where you got thick rough and stuff … but it’s just playing very different. Off the tee I don’t see much trouble but it’s always just around the greens; there are a lot of false fronts and run-offs to the side, so I had to play around it.
I had a caddie, he’s an Augusta National local caddie, and there were so many putts where he would tell me you have to putt like way up there and I was, like, the hole is way left, why would I want to go … and obviously I would listen to him and it just blows my mind how the slopes work!
Another thing that amazed me was when we walked up Hole 18 or Hole 9, probably Hole 9, we heard, like, a sound and I was asking my coach ‘what’s that?’. It’s actually the drainage system that they have, where if there’s excess water they would take it all down, and if they need water they would pump it back up. I was like, hmm, it must be costly but it’s Augusta, so …
How did you do on Amen Corner?
I started on Hole 10, so I got to Amen Corner pretty quick.
Hole 11, which is the first hole of Amen Corner, you don’t see where you land, so you just kind of have to pick something out there like a tree and just hit it down there. It’s a pretty straightforward drive and then it sort of goes downhill a little bit and there’s water on the left. I think during the practice round the pin was up front; it’s a short hole for us and we played from the members’ tees – there are only two tees, the tournament tees and the members’ tees – it was short and I hit maybe 15 feet to the right of the pin. I didn’t make the putt but made par there.
Going to the next hole obviously it’s very pretty with the flowers to the back – the pin was just above the middle front bunker and I hit a shot maybe like a little back right but I’m still on the green, maybe about 30 feet. I made a two-putt there but obviously, like I said, the green wasn’t as fast as during Masters week.
Hole 13 I actually hit probably the best drive of the week and it just curved along that fairway and I had, like, 160 metres in, and that was a par-five. That was my second shot and I had 160 but, like I said, the hills and stuff, you need to know how to play off it but … I was asking my caddie, ‘it’s 160, I definitely have to go for it’. I hit my five-iron but the ball was quite a bit above my feet, so it was hard to hit a long iron off that lie. But I would say during a tournament I would probably lay up if it is it actually counts. But I went for it just because it doesn’t count and I didn’t come here to lay up I guess, but I went into the creek and made a bogey from there.
