Posted April 5, 2015, 2:54 pm
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Staff Writer

Participants inspire others at second annual Drive, Chip and Putt finals

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Anika Dy takes a swing during the 12-13 year-old girls drive competition.

Holding his 2-year-old daughter on his waist, Chad Thompson leaned in close and whispered, “Let’s be real quiet and see if she makes this.”

Anika Dy, an eighth-grader from Traverse City, Mich., was lining up a 15-foot putt Sunday on the 18th at Augusta National Golf Club.

After studying the elevation of the green, the 13-year-old made the putt in the second annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.

With her success, the sport of golf likely grew by one more young competitor.

“Wow, she made it,” Aubrie Thompson said to her father.

All 2015 Drive, Chip and Putt Championship scores

The moment mimicked the father-daughter relationship that led Dy to play golf and ultimately qualify for Drive, Chip and Putt’s 12-13 girls division.

Dy’s interest in the sport started with driving a golf cart for her dad when she was younger and later evolved into a “love for the game,” according to the tournament’s Web site.

Thompson, of North Augusta, said he has already bought his daughter a plastic set of clubs, and plans to buy her a bag of real ones in the future, if she remains interested in the sport.

It looks like that won’t be a problem.

Thompson said Aubrie’s face lit up Saturday when she found out her father had gotten tickets to the event.

The excitement and curiosity grew even greater, he said, when she got on the course.

“Just seeing these young kids out here enjoying themselves and excelling at a sport they love is fun to watch,” Chad Thompson said. “Their concentration Is unbelievable.”

Photos: Winners

Photos: Girls competition

Photos: Boys competition

Participants inspire others at second annual Drive, Chip and Putt finals

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