CHOWCHILLA, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — For the past two years, we’ve shown you the rise of golfing sensation Asterisk Talley.
“I’ve definitely gotten taller, so it’s been an advantage,” she said.
The 15-year-old has already won multiple tournaments, most notably last summer’s Rolex Girls Junior Championship in South Carolina.
“After that, I just played my best and I didn’t really have any super bad rounds,” she said. “I just kept being consistent with top teams.”
That consistency earned the Chowchilla native a special invitation to one of golf’s most prestigious venues — a spot to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this April.
“Hearing that news was pretty exciting,” says her dad, James. “We kind of held out to tell her until she got out school.”
“Augusta wasn’t really a big goal that I had,” she said. “It was just out of reach, from what I thought.”
Asterisk has been among the Augusta Azaleas before, competing in the 2022 drive, chip and putt competition.
She even shook hands with former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
“That’s so special at the time, but just getting to play there would be amazing, and I can’t even think of how much fun I’m going to have when I actually go,” she said.
That competition gave her just a sneak peek into Augusta, but this invite opens up the entire course.
It’s something she’ll have to do without one of her biggest fans.
“My dad’s just bummed that he doesn’t get to watch,” Asterisk Talley.
Dad won’t be making the journey because of work, but her mom, Brandii, will be there every step of the way.
“He wants me to do it on my own, kind of step up and do what I have to do,” Asterisk said.
Although it’s a national stage with the majority of the girls in the field being older, you never get the sense Asterisk is nervous.
She’s not going to just participate.
“Winning is, obviously, the goal, once you go into any tournament and if you don’t think you can win, you’re not going to,” she said.
She doesn’t have her drivers’ license yet – but she could become the youngest champion in the event’s history.
“No matter what I do, I’m just going to have a great time just being in such a historic course where all the greatest players of all time have played before,” she said.
