AUGUSTA, Ga. – Virginia Tech women's golf student-athlete Emily Mahar met with the media for a press conference on Tuesday, leading up to her 10:42 a.m. ET tee time on Wednesday in the Augusta National Women's Amateur. To see what she had to say, view below.
Q. Emily, take us back to last week. What was it like receiving that phone call you'd officially been accepted into the ANWA?
"It was really cool. We were getting ready for our practice round at Clemson, and my phone started ringing, and it was one of the directors from the ANWA. He was like, yeah, we have a spot. Do you want to play? I think Coach kind of knew. She told me she hadn't told me officially, but she was like, there are alternate spots. Maybe you have one of them. I looked at her, and she looked at me, and I shook my head. Everyone kind of knew. It was really cool to share that moment with the team."
Q. You were part of a lot of firsts for Virginia Tech women's golf. Can you walk us through some of those, from the first regional appearance to the first national appearance last year.
"My freshman year, I think that was our second or third competitive season, we made the first regional, and that was our number one goal that season. Then my sophomore year, we made regionals again, but we just missed out on Nationals. Then we had COVID. So our next time around was the first time that we made the National Championship. Just to make all of those firsts is super, super cool. It's a true honor to have my name next to those first teams and kind of just shows everyone else coming in that you can also be a first because there's so many other records that we don't have anyone set yet. Gives everyone else someone to chase."
Q. Describe the commitment you've made and the work you've put in to get to this point.
"A lot of time. You give up a lot, especially playing golf. It's so long. Our tournaments are multiple days. So you have to give up so much free time. But it's all worth it in the end to come to a place like this. After everything I've given up, it makes it truly worth it. I wouldn't change it for the world."
Q. You're no stranger to the big stage. How does your experience at the U.S. Women's Open last year and the U.S. Women's Am prepare you for this week?
"It helps to calm the nerves to know I've made it to situations like those. Obviously, I've worked hard enough. I deserve to be here. Everyone else that's here is a really great college golfer who's done great at the U.S. Open. They've played in the U.S. Ams and everything too. I'm no stranger as well, so that definitely calms the nerves."
Gallery: (3-29-2022) WGOLF: ANWA Practice Round
