By Ken Severson
PGA Tour pro Scottie Scheffler wasn’t the only big winner recently at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Carmel’s Karis Reid won the championship for the Girls’ 12-13 division in the annual Drive, Chip and Putt at the famed course in Augusta, Ga., on April 7, a week before Scheffler, one of Reid’s favorite golfers, won his second Masters.
“It was a truly special weekend that I will never forget,” Reid said. “Augusta National is the most beautiful course I have ever seen in person. I loved being able to putt on the 18th green, especially knowing that all of the greats have putt there before me.”
Reid, 13, a seventh-grader at Clay Middle School, represented the Great Lakes region and was one of 10 golfers in her division.
Like the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition where football fundamentals are the linchpin, Drive, Chip and Putt was founded in 2013 by the Masters Tournament, the United States Golf Association and The PGA of America, and is a free nationwide junior golf development competition aimed at growing the game by focusing on three fundamental skills employed in golf.
Reid qualified in the top three at the Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel, then advanced to the subregional at the Golf Club of Indiana in Whitestown, where she was in the top two, and then won the regional title at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
At Augusta, Reid overcame some early jitters but relied on her faith to settle down.
“To play in front of hundreds of people and several live television cameras was a little nerve racking,” Reid said. “But I reminded myself I was playing for an audience of one, Jesus Christ, and that settled my heart.”
Reid won the drive and chip portion of the competition and took fourth place in putting to accumulate 27 points to outdistance her nearest rivals, Gayatri Arora of Charlotte, N.C., and NiuNiu Zhao of Woodinville, Wash., who each had 19.
Reid has been golfing since she was 6 years old and started competing a year later. Her dad, former two-time state champion golfing coach at Carmel, was a big influence on her, as well as golf pro Brad Fellers.
“(Dad) is the one that taught me and inspired me to be the golfer I am today. We still play together all the time,” Reid said. “For the past two years, I have worked with Brad on my swing mechanics, short game and mental game.”
Reid, who had a hole in one in 2022, plans on playing for the Greyhounds girls’ golf team and is interested in playing in college, as well.
Perhaps even further, alongside her favorite player Nelly Korda.
“I would love to have the opportunity to play on the LPGA, and I am willing to put in the work it takes to get there,” Reid said.
Watch Reid’s performance at youtube.com/watch?v=HKv2sKhVmLI.
