EVANS, Ga. — About 10 days before the start of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb sent Kary Hollenbaugh a video message. Before offering her best wishes for the week, Webb dryly apologized for being the inspiration of a name that will be mispronounced for the rest of her life.
Every word of the video was a thrill, of course, for the petite Hollenbaugh, who has been on a tear recently in college golf and risen to No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
“I’ve never been to an LPGA event actually,” said Hollenbaugh, “but I’ve watched it on TV, reruns of old major championships.”
The spelling of Kary’s name comes from the combination of her great grandpa Karl and her grandpa Gary. Kary’s father, Paul, played college golf at Eastern Michigan and is director of golf at New Albany Country Club in Ohio. He’s also obviously a big Karrie Webb fan.
Kary Hollenbaugh opened with a tidy 2-under 70 on Wednesday in her ANWA debut to trail leader Megha Ganne by seven strokes. While it’s her first time competing, Hollenbaugh originally came to the event as a 14-year-old in 2019, when she watched Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi duel down the stretch at Augusta National.
“One of our really good friends, he lives in Augusta, so he hooked us up with the tickets,” said Kary. “Then we actually scalped a ticket on the street because my dad thought that he had one, but he didn’t.”
Kary comes into this week straight off a victory over the weekend at the Clemson Invitational. In February, she won the Therese Hession Regional Challenge and Spartan Sun Coast Invitational.
“I’ve always wanted to be a Buckeye,” said Kary, who chose Ohio State over Michigan even without the promise of a full scholarship her first year. The 20-year-old called it the best decision of her life.
OSU head coach Lisa Strom said pound-for-pound, Kary is one of the longest hitters in the game, carrying it around 235 yards. Strom puts her star player at around 5-foot-2 in stature.
“She’s always been underestimated,” said Strom, “but I think she kind of carries that as a chip on her shoulder, ‘Hey, watch this.’ ”
Therese Hession led the Buckeye program for nearly three decades, and Kary was her final recruit. The legendary coach gets emotional talking about Kary’s growth.
“She’s this little dynamo,” said Hession of what she saw in Kary as a teen. “She loves to win, and she hates to lose.”
In college, Kary has become more disciplined in her course management and more even-keel with her emotions. Hession said she came to the program with strong fundamentals thanks to the tutelage of her father.
After Hession retired in 2022, she caddied for Kary at several events over the summer and noted that her speed control on the greens gave her gray hair.
After the putting improved, Hession told her last year that if she worked on her chipping, she’d be a first-team All-American in 2025.
On the eve of the ANWA, Hession noted that Kary had to walk off the course after the eighth hole of her practice round with a stiff neck. Her father called Hession before she got on her flight and gave it a 20 percent chance that his daughter would play.
“I said, she’s so tough, I’m coming anyway,” said Hession. “Over her dead body would she not play.”
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