Eloise Fetzer of Daniel Island will be making her third trip to the finals of the national Drive, Chip and Putt competition next April at Augusta National Golf Club, and Scarlett Smith of Mount Pleasant will also be making the trip to the home of The Masters.
In regional qualifying held Sept. 13 at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, Fetzer won the Girls 12-13 division. Smith was the winner of the Girls 7-9 age group. Zoe Crosby of Simpsonville won the Girls 10-11 age division to earn her second consecutive trip to the finals.
The championship, contested the Sunday prior to the Masters, is nationally televised by The Golf Channel with 80 players from 28 states, Canada and India advancing to Augusta by making it through three stages of qualifying.
In the Drive portion of the competition, players hit two drives in a 40-yard fairway with the longest counting for their score. Chipping is from 10 to 15 yards and is scored based on closest to the hole. Putting, which takes place on Augusta National’s 18th green with the same hole location that will be used in the final round of the Masters, is done from 15 and 30 feet.
Fetzer posted a score of 144 in winning the Girls 12-13 age division. Smith scored 115 in the Girls 7-9 age group. Crosby had a score of 125.
Fetzer finished in a tie for second in the Girls 10-11 age group in 2025. She first participated in the skills challenge in 2022, finishing seventh in the Girls 7-9 age group.
“It’s an amazing and incredible experience to get to be on the Augusta National property,” Fetzer told DCP organizers after her Girls 12-13 division victory. “I’ve realized you have accomplished so much just getting there; after that, it’s ‘Have fun,’ and whatever happens, happens.”
On the day prior to the Drive, Chip and Putt competition, Fetzer played The Cradle, Pinehurst Resort’s nine-hole short course, and made a hole-in-one as well as five birdies to shoot 6-under-par 21.
Aces
Dennis Geoffrey, Oct. 7, Crooked Oaks-Seabrook Island Club, No. 5, 123 yards, 8-iron.