Dinner at Augusta, Megha Ganne, Jimmy Buffett’s golf influence | Rogers Report

Hello, friends, and welcome to today’s edition of the Rogers Report! I just got in from the course after following Megha Ganne’s stellar round (more on that later) and finished a lovely Italian lunch here at Champions Retreat. It’s been an eventful day at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but just in case you want to get caught up on Tuesday in Augusta, you can click here.

Tuesday’s Chairman’s Dinner

While I was cooking up some tacos for dinner at our bare-bones AirBnb on Tuesday evening (I would not recommend chopping vegetables without a cutting board), the Augusta National Women’s Amateur participants were enjoying a much, much more glamorous evening. They spent the eve of the tournament at Augusta National for a dinner hosted by Chairman Fred Ridley, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, it looked perfect.

When I was the age most of these young women are, I was just hoping to get to the college dining hall to get something — anything! — to eat before it closed. Not the gals at the ANWA, though. They got dolled up, spent some time on the lawn behind the clubhouse (which is the undisputed No. 1 hang spot in all of golf) and then got to sit down with the chairman for a private dinner.

Ridley served crab cocktail with Louis sauce as an appetizer, followed by filet mignon and king salmon for the entree. They had roasted broccolini and beet puree with au jus and beurre blanc.

And for the most important part of the meal (dessert), there was passion fruit cake with white chocolate and strawberry cream as well as passion fruit sorbet. I’m all in on any meal that includes ice cream or sorbet, so this sounded like the perfect way to ring in one of the best weeks in golf.

Wednesday at Champions Retreat

When I arrived at Champions Retreat for Round 1 of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Wednesday, the first thing I noticed was how many junior golfers were there. Girls of all ages were dressed in their favorite golf clothes to watch the women they look up to tee it up in one of the most special tournaments of the year.

Everywhere I turned, players were greeting young fans, signing hats and flags for them and saying hi to the parents who brought their daughters to take in all of the action. It’s so fun to see young girls fall in love with the game in real time, and it reminded me how lucky I am to be here working at this event. I was one of those young girls at a tournament many moons ago, and it was thanks to the kindness of women in the field who gave me the time of day that my interest in the game began.

I also have to give a proper shout out to the patrons here at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. They were dressed to the nines today and it got me super-excited to see all of the outfits at the Masters next week. This truly is the most fashionable two weeks in golf.

Megha Ganne

There’s one woman everyone’s talking about this afternoon, and for good reason. Megha Ganne fired a nine-under 63 in her opening round on Wednesday. The junior at Stanford made seven (!) birdies and an eagle Wednesday while her mom, sister and many others watched.

Ganne was a four-time finalist at the Drive, Chip and Putt, and this is her fifth time playing in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, so it’s safe to say she knows her way around. I dug through the archives and found some photos of Ganne from the 2015 Drive, Chip and Putt, where she competed in the 10-11 year-old division.

Not only is Ganne great at golf, she’s a great interview, too.

Here’s what she had to say about the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Wednesday afternoon:

“I think it’s the most exciting week in amateur golf, men’s or women’s, period, in my opinion. I think everyone in golf knows about it. They might not know about certain other tournaments, but when this one’s happening, people tune in.”

I think Ganne is absolutely right, and I can’t wait to follow her game for the rest of the week and beyond.

My favorite crossover of the week

As I scrolled through my Instagram feed on Wednesday afternoon, I was expecting to see a lot of what I usually see: golf. And for the most part, it was. Until I stumbled upon a post of Jimmy Buffett and two surfers.

Scarlett Schremmer was the last woman in the field this week, and she might also be the most interesting. Before golf, she won a national championship in surfing. And her mom’s best friend was Jimmy Buffett.

“Him and my mom have been best friends for a very long time. He just had such a positive impact on my life and my sister’s and my mom’s life. He sings a song called ‘Come Monday,’ and it’s just like, you know, for a golfer, I think it goes really well because come Monday everything’s going to be alright, you know, and we usually end on Sunday and you just sometimes you just have to let things go and take what you can get and say ‘okay, this is my situation right now, “Im gonna move on.’ Things don’t always go your way, but if you’re alive and you’re healthy, a lot of things are going your way. And and just to see the way that he kind of really suffered at the end of his life had a really big impact on me and it still does, you know. It kind of makes me a little emotional to talk about but, no it’s just been really great and made me a lot more grateful for what I have and my family and all the people that I’ve been blessed to be around.”

What a fun story, and what a talented athlete Scarlett Schremmer is.