AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

April 2, 2025

Kary Hollenbaugh

Quick Quotes

Q. Kary, first round at Augusta National obviously on your calendar for quite some time. Did it live up to the expectations?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Of course. It was a really, really fun day.

Q. How much rest did you get last night?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Honestly a pretty good amount. Just rested my back. I think I got back at 9:00, so I went to bed at 10:00. So pretty good.

Q. As far as the practice rounds go, obviously the rain has kind of faded at Augusta a little bit, softened up the golf course. Any sort of concern with that, or did you kind of welcome it?

Q. I think I welcomed it. It was just a little tricky on tips when they were soft and muddy. So I think just learning how to hit different shots around the green, when it's soft or when it's firm.

Q. You've been on a heater. What do you attribute that to? I guess going back to the winter, you won -- was it the Sally?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: The Sally.

Q. And then runner-up at another one?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Third at Patriot, first Sally, first Palos Verdes, first Spartan Sun Coast, and then like 13th at Darius and then just won the last tournament.

Q. What's been working? How did you find it?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: I think just working on smarter targets and kind of learning when you have a chance to go for a pin and make birdies. I think just trusting my swing and my game and just working a lot on short game and putting and trying to get up-and-down from anywhere when you miss the green.

Q. Where's your self-belief level at now this week after that, compared to last July?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: It's immensely bigger. I feel like I kind of struggled over the summer just confidence-wise. I think working through visualization techniques and learning how to almost visualize a good shot kind of helped me to realize that I can hit good shots.

Q. What did you visualize before that, bad shots?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: I think it was just more worry and fear of hitting a bad shot. Now it's kind of like just instead of -- everyone's going to have fear, but instead of taking a hold of that, I think just working on how do I want to hit the shot and just visualizing where I want it to end up.

Q. Was last night your first time seeing Augusta National at all? Have you been there before?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: No, I went to the first ANWA with my dad, so I've been there.

Q. What was your takeaway from that week? What did that do for you mentally?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Honestly, it was so special like being inside, having dinner at Augusta National because they played some replays of the Jennifer Kupcho-Maria Fassi battle on the last couple holes, and it brought back so many good memories of me as a kid wishing to be here. So it's cool to see it come full circle.

Q. How old would you have been for that one when you went, 2018?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: I think I was 14. It's six years, so yeah, 14.

Q. Did your dad enter the lottery to get tickets? How did that come about? Or did he surprise you with them?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: One of our really good friends, he lives in Augusta. So he hooked us up with the tickets. Then we actually scalped a ticket on the street because my dad thought that he had one, but he didn't.

Q. So just a ticket for you?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, it was just me.

Q. And you wouldn't have been able to go in there by yourself?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: No.

Q. Did you walk with Maria and Jen, or what was that day like?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Yeah, we followed a few groups like throughout the day. Then towards the end we watched them from hole 12 to hole 18.

Q. What impressed you the most about that? I'm guessing it inspired you.

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: Honestly, the way that they interacted with each other, like they're kind of rooting for each other. And it was really cool to see at the end how Maria Fassi just kind of praised Jennifer Kupcho.

Like if you're going to lose, you want someone to win it, you know. I think that Jennifer Kupcho did that.

Q. What do you think about when you could potentially be that person on Saturday that some 14-year-old is following and decides to play college golf?

KARY HOLLENBAUGH: I think it's just special to be a role model to young girls and just like want to just have fun on the golf course and enjoy the experience. I think that that's the most important part, especially being here at this amazing tournament.