Emily Odwin Has Arrived—and Augusta Is Just the Introduction

AUGUSTA, Ga. — We all know the iconic Masters leaderboard. The big one. It sits near the first tee at Augusta National Golf Club, decorated with the flags of the different countries being represented in the competition.

In 2026, for the first time ever, on top of the massive greeting signage flies the flag of Barbados.

A view of a scoreboard on course during a practice round prior to the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 08, 2025 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

I've never really liked the word "pioneer," but I don't know what else to call Emily Odwin. In a lot of ways the word doesn't quite feel strong enough to describe the kind of person she is. It's not just about her being the first woman to hail from the small Caribbean island, or her being only the third Black woman to be invited to the Augusta National Women's Amateur. She's doing more than just being the first to walk the path. She's also leading by example.

I've said it before, and I think I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face, but it's something that means a great deal to me being able to fly the flag kind of all over the world in places that it might not have been flown before. It's on my bag. It's on my chest. It's something that I kind of carry with me as I'm going to walk around the golf course this week and even into my future career. It's something that I'm always going to have with me, and it means a lot.

Photo by Matty Aylward/Augusta National/Getty Images.

The 22-year-old senior at SMU first came across my radar when she qualified for the 2025 U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills. I didn't get to follow her that week, but I made sure to pocket her name and face for the next time I'd come across her again. And I was so hoping for there to be a next time.

So, when I saw her name on the field list for this year's ANWA, I just knew that she'd be one of the many players to have my attention. Her talent is impressive—she's absolutely rips it off the tee, sending it somewhere between 260 and 270 yards—and she has impeccable speed. But the way she moves around the course, the way she carries herself, is something to behold.

What I see in Odwin is a strong, confident woman who knows exactly who she is. Her poise has been unmatched this week. She's acting like she belongs, because she does.

It's never easy being the only one who looks like you to be in a space that isn't exactly designed for you, especially when you're from a country whose total number of golf courses you can count on one hand. And though she's carrying the support of Barbadians everywhere this week, she's isn't shouldering it alone.

I followed Odwin during the first and second rounds at Champions Retreat, trailing behind her parents Edward and Orna. Her dad, "Eddie," walks well ahead of her mom, because she's far too nervous to follow her any closer. Orna told me that Emily gets her confidence (and hand-eye coordination) from her dad. But before every round, they have a mother-daughter powwow to settle Emily down. When Orna can't be there in personal they settle for a simple phone call.

Emily Odwin of Barbados plays her stroke from the No. 12 tee during a practice round for the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 03, 2026. (Photo by Logan Whitton/Augusta National/Getty Images)

All week long I've been fighting trying to make Emily out to be some sort of token. Because I know exactly how that feels, and though the intention isn't harmful, there is a layer of uncomfortableness that comes with being singled out in such a way.

It finally struck me once I saw the flag on Friday afternoon at Augusta National, on the eve of championship Saturday.

Seeing her out here so proud and confident has healed something in me. I see myself in Emily Odwin, in a way that hundreds of thousands of Black and brown people will. She credits Mariah Stackhouse, one of the few Black women (eight to be exact) to earn their LPGA card, as the person who motivates her in this game. And she's becoming that idol for the next ones up.

Her presence at Augusta National is needed.

She's not naive or ignorant to what this moment means, but she's also choosing to not let it define her. "I think if I think about that [being the only Black woman on this stage] all the time it's going to be pretty hard to make a five-footer, right?" She said ahead of the week.

"It's something that I know and that I acknowledge and I talk about it with my team, but it's not something that I want to just always have in the back of my mind just because it's going to be unnecessary added pressure when the moment is already going to be pretty big."

Emily will play alongside former champion Anna Davis. The pair will go off in the third tee time set for 8:40 a.m. ET. I'll be on outside the patron lines watching her and I hope those of you will follow along at home.

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