Augusta, Ga. — Anna Davis, the sole past champion in the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur field, was assessed a one-stroke penalty for slow play Thursday. The costly rules violation moved Davis from 3 over par to 4 over for the championship, which means she will miss the 36-hole cut and, in turn, Saturday’s final round at Augusta National.
The first two rounds of the ANWA are played at Champions Retreat Golf Club, where Davis’ rules violation occurred on Thursday. All competitors get the chance to play a practice round at Augusta National on Friday.
Rules officials notified Davis and her playing partners multiple times that they were “out of position,” per the tournament’s pace of play policy. That’s when the group — which includes the 36-hole leader Lottie Woad — was officially put on the clock.
According to the tournament’s pace of play policy, a player is allowed 40 seconds to play a stroke, and 10 additional seconds if they are the first player to play.
The ANWA Tournament headquarters released the following statement on Davis’s rules violation.
“Anna Davis was assessed a one-stroke penalty for violation of the Tournament’s Pace of Play Policy. Her group, which included Lottie Woad and Maria Jose Marin, was notified that they were out of position multiple times during their second round,” the statement read. “While being timed, Davis received her first bad time after playing her second stroke on No. 5 and received her second bad time following her second stroke on hole No. 17. She was subsequently assessed a one-stroke penalty, which was applied on hole No. 17.”
Davis, who won the ANWA in 2022 at just 16 years old, was also involved in a rules violation at the 2023 championship. Lift, clean and place rules — which allow players to wipe off their ball in wet conditions — were in effect during the first round of the ANWA last year. Davis, not knowing that the rule only allowed players to clean their balls from “closely mown areas” like the fairway, mistakenly utilized the rule twice while playing from the rough on her opening hole. She was assessed a 4-shot penalty and ultimately missed the cut.
The Auburn freshman was distraught walking to the parking lot with her father on Thursday afternoon at Champions Retreat. When asked if she would answer a few questions from the media, she replied, “Maybe later,” attempting to crack a smile through her tears.
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(Photo of Anna Davis: Warren Little / Getty Images)
