Meet the Folsom golfer who qualified to compete in Augusta National Women’s Amateur championship

A rising Folsom golfer has qualified for the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur championship and will compete in April, the Augusta National Golf Club announced this week.

Emilee Hoffman of Folsom is coming off a successful summer playing for University of Texas. The 21-year-old junior advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and dominated the Women’s Western Golf Association’s National Amateur Championship, according to amateurgolf.com.

The Sacramento area native was selected to the All-Big 12 Conference in the 2017-18 season after finishing in the top-five four times, including a runner-up finish at the Big 12 Championship and a fourth-place tie at the NCAA Austin Regional.

Hoffman seemed destined for this path. She was named after former LPGA Player Emilee Klein. She started playing golf at age 5. At age 12, she was her father Jeff Hoffman’s caddy in the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

“Receiving an invitation to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur is representative of a remarkable amateur career, and so much more,” Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, said in a PGA news release. “We share in the excitement of the players, not only for what will unfold in April, but also for what their involvement will mean to increase interest in the women’s game.”

Women from around the world were invited to compete in the championship after qualifying through their U.S. or International World Amateur Golf Ranking, or by winning select amateur tournaments, according to an email announcing the field of participants..

Forty of the world’s top 50 women’s amateurs, including five of the top 10, will tee up in the championship, according to the Golf Channel. The No. 2-ranked amateur Jennifer Kupcho, a senior at Wake Forest, will be there. So will No. 4 Jiwon Jeon of South Korea, who plays at Alabama.

The first two rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur will be played at the Champions Retreat Golf Club. The final round takes place at the Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia, home of the Masters Tournament. The international field will compete over 54 holes of stroke play, with a cut to 30 players taking place after 36 holes, according to the PGA.

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur will air on NBC Sports on April 6, 2019, a week before the Masters Tournament.

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur event was established ”to inspire greater interest and participation in the women’s game by creating a new, exciting and rewarding pathway for players to fulfill their dreams,” according to the PGA email.

This story was originally published January 23, 2019 at 12:57 PM.