money North East's Anna Swan to play in Drive, Chip & Putt national event on Golf Channel
Was it a locker room? A bag-drop area? A well-maintained caddyshack?
Seven years later, Anna Swan still doesn't know which building she idly wandered into within the notoriously private Augusta (Georgia) National Golf Club.
Whatever it was, the then 9-year-old North East youth strayed into it while she waited to reconnect with her parents, Mike and Stacy.
“I wasn't really lost,” Anna Swan said, “but I'm still not sure where I ended up. The whole time I was thinking, 'Uh, where's my family?'”
Fortunately, Swan and her parents soon crossed paths.
Even better, she did so in time to watch older siblings, Lydia and Isaiah, finish first and third in their respective age groups for the 2015 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals.
D-10 golf all-stars: Meet the 2021 District 10 Girls Golf All-Stars
It's the same competition for youth golfers that Anna Swan will participate in Sunday. The homeschooled North East sophomore is one of 10 players listed in the girls age 14-15 division.
Local fans can watch the DC&P live on the Golf Channel from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The ninth annual competition is a significant youth event in the week-long build up for The Masters, which starts next Thursday.
The Swan family was already in Georgia when Anna Swan spoke earlier this week. An appearance in last weekend's Tennessee Spring Junior Open, held at Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain State Park, highlighted Anna Swan's preparations for Sunday's action.
Swan expressed displeasure with her rounds of 82 and 81 at Bear Trace, which hosted a stop on the national Hurricane Junior Golf Tour.
She didn't mention how her 36-hole score of 163 was good enough to win the tournament's girls 18-under division by 19 strokes.
Swan did mention how special it will be to strike a golf ball on Augusta's hallowed grounds for the first and likely last time.
“I'm so grateful I'll get to hit at least one drive,” she said. “I've worked a long time for this.”
Sisters' role reversal
Sunday's tournament will offer an alternate vantage point for Lydia Swan, who just completed her varsity golf career at North East. The former PIAA Class 2A team and individual champion will be part of the limited gallery Sunday while Anna competes.
Lydia Swan said she's offered no advice for Anna about how to contend with the pressure that will arise.
“I have absolutely nothing to offer for her game,” Lydia said. “But we have joked that when she starts shanking her chips (during practice), she'll be on the right track. Because that's exactly what I did before I ended up winning.”
The 2015 DC&P is when the elder two of the five Swan siblings initially got the family the level of public notoriety throughout Erie's golf community.
Lydia Swan finished first in the girls age 10-11 division with 25 points over the three disciplines. Isaiah Swan, Mike and Stacy Swan's oldest child, also finished third in the boys 10-11 competition with 20.
Isaiah Swan, also a former PIAA 2A team and individual champion, was a 2021 North East graduate. Currently a freshman at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he was the individual gold medalist for the last fall's PSAC men's golf tournament and also helped the Crimson Hawks claimed the team title.
Lydia Swan hasn't accomplished something like that. At least, not yet.
The North East senior recently announced her plans to play for the women's golf team at Division I Oral Roberts University, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, starting this fall.
While Lydia Swan said she won't offer Anna any advice when it comes to her golf, she did encourage her to take the intiative when it comes to introducing herself to the potential celebrities at Sunday's tournament.
Lydia Swan nervously approached Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State during President George W. Bush's second term, for a photo opportunity in 2015. Rice was among Augusta's first female members who were admitted to club in 2012.
“I told (Anna) not to be bashful,” Lydia said. “There will be a lot of cool people there if you want to talk to them. But you've got to go up and talk to them.
“But as far as advice for her game, she'll be fine. She's practiced a long time for this.”
Road to Augusta
Anna Swan's appearance in Sunday's DC&P final modestly began at J.C. Martin Golf Course. She finished first in her age group (105 points) for an East Region local qualifier that was held there last June 24.
From there, Swan traveled to suburban Buffalo on Aug. 6 for a subregional qualifier at Glen Oak Golf Course. Her 118 points were enough for the second of two berths that advanced her out of that East Amherst, New York, tournament.
Emily Ferguson of Rochester, New York, won with 137 points. That meant she barely had to travel for the Sept. 19 regional qualifier at Oak Hill Country Club in suburban Pittsford. Oak Hill has hosted three U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships, plus the 1995 Ryder Cup.
It was there that Swan secured her berth in Sunday's DC&P final. She totaled 146 points, nine more than Katie Roberts of Phoenixville.
“Obviously, I want to do well (Sunday),” Anna Swan said. “But I really want to take in every moment and cherish this time with my family. It's going to be a special weekend.”
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.
---
Drive, Chip and Putt Nationals
Region champions in the girls age 14-15 division for the 2022 Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club (will be televised Sunday live from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Golf Channel):
East: Anna Swan, North East
Upper Midwest: Sophia Capua, Aurora, Colorado
Great Lakes: Mia Hammond, New Albany, Ohio
Midwest: Martha Kuwahara, Northbrook, Illinois
South Central: Krysta Loftin, Pearland, Texas
Middle Atlantic: Mary Miller, Savannah, Georgia
Southeast: Angela Nip, Port St. Lucie, Florida
Northwest: Chloe Singpraseuth, Meridian, Idaho
Southwest: Ella Walsh, Tucson, Arizona
Northeast: Abigail Zhu, Andover, Massachusetts
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: North East's Anna Swan to play in Drive, Chip & Putt Nationals
