Danielle Washburn stood next to her father, Steve, just off the 18th green and watched the culmination of the 2017 Fox Puss Invitational at Boonsboro Country Club.
The gallery surrounding the final green waited in anticipation as Justin Young lined up his birdie attempt and then gasped in unison when his putt went past the hole to give Sam O’Dell the victory.
The younger Washburn turned to her father and commented on the thrilling nature of the Fox Puss’ final day. Then she asked, “Dad, why isn’t there a women’s equivalent?”
That struck a chord with Steve Washburn. Why wasn’t there a tournament offered at Boonsboro as a way to elevate and promote women’s golf?
Washburn, who is a member at Boonsboro and competes in the senior division at the Fox Puss, began a year-long process to put together a women’s invitational, one that could be played when the top collegiate players are available and when the top amateur players from Virginia had openings in their schedules.
The result is The Donna Andrews Invitational, a 54-hole tournament that will take place June 23 to 25, 2019, at Boonsboro Country Club.
“I think it’s time that we do have more ladies’ tournaments,” said Donna Andrews, the tournament’s namesake and Lynchburg native. Andrews, an E.C. Glass graduate, was the first female golfer inducted into the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame last year. “We can see through the Masters adding one that there’s obviously a demand for it.”
The three-day tournament at Boonsboro will debut the same year as the women’s amateur championship, which is being played the weekend prior to the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. That tournament’s final round will be contested at Augusta National the Saturday prior to the Masters.
The Donna (the tournament’s shortened name) will count toward player rankings in the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA) and the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and the committee is working on adding the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) to increase the strength of the 72-player field.
The tournament wants to have the top amateurs in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina and South Carolina participate, and they will accept entries from any female golfer with an established USGA handicap index of 14.4 or less who conforms to the USGA rules of amateur status.
“It was two things. It was having a premier event that was going to have a top-quality field — that was paramount — and promoting women’s golf in general in the state,” Washburn said.
There will be four divisions for the inaugural tournament — Open (available to any competitor regardless of age and the overall winners only will come from this division); Junior (18 or younger as of June 23, 2019); Mid-Am (25 or older as of June 23, 2019); and Senior (50 or older as of June 23, 2019).
Washburn said registration likely will open in January so players can plan accordingly for the summer months, when several tournaments are available to be played.
“In each division, we’re hoping to get the top amateurs on the Mid-Atlantic,” Washburn said.
The creation of The Donna adds a potentially prestigious tournament to a Virginia schedule that lacks in player-ranking tournaments.
When it debuts next year, it only will be the fourth player-ranking tournament in Virginia, joining the Richmond Women’s Golf Association City Amateur, The Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame and the Country Club of Virginia Invitational, which is a four-ball event.
Most women’s golfers are forced to play out of state in order to accumulate player ranking points for Virginia.
“There are not that many amateur tournaments for any of the divisions that we hope to have … in the state and even in the region,” said Becky Hawkins, who along with Washburn will co-chair The Donna. “To add this on the scale that we’re hoping to have it, it should be a premier event for the state and we hope eventually the region.”
Washburn, Hawkins and the other members of The Donna committee had to go through the process of getting the tournament approved by the Boonsboro Country Club board and its members, a process Washburn said lasted four months.
Following the approval, the group was invited to shadow the operations of the Fox Puss Invitational this year and next year in order to learn the intricacies of handling a tournament.
Chris Webb, the chairman of the Fox Puss, wanted them to “learn anything and everything to avoid problems” that could arise with a first-year event.
“I think it will be great for it to become a marquee event much like the Fox Puss has,” Webb said, “and I think it will be a great feather in Boonsboro’s cap if we can do that.”
Andrews, who resides with her family in Pinehurst, North Carolina, has not been involved heavily with the process to date.
For the tournament, she will host an exhibition the day before the tournament begins and be available for golfers to meet with her during the three-day event.
“I want the opportunity to share time with the junior and collegiate golfers, give them a chance to ask questions about my career and be involved from that side more as a mentor more so than anything else,” she said. “That would be my role.”
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