AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 28, 2023

Gianna Clemente

Quick Quotes

Q. You're one of the youngest players in the field, yet you look very comfortable around here. How would you describe your sense of confidence as you enter the week?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: I'm super confident. I think it's going to be a really good week. I've put a lot of prep last couple weeks just to make sure I'm prepared for everything that this golf course has to offer.

I think it's going to be a really good week, and I'm comfortable on the big stage. Obviously this is my first year here, but I've played in a lot of the really high-level events, and that experience has really carried over. So, yeah, I'm really comfortable.

Q. Is there anything you're most excited about seeing Augusta National?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Just playing in general. I think that would be a very common answer for a first-year player.

I'm just really excited to play. Hopefully I'll make the cut and play in competition. That would be the end goal. Just to play in general I'm really excited for.

Q. Is it a challenge to focus on the first two rounds here and not get ahead of yourself?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Maybe for some. Not really for me. I think I'm pretty good at just keeping my head down and just playing my game, just day by day, shot by shot honestly.

Yeah, just take it one hole at a time and hopefully play some really good golf.

Q. Is this your first time at Champions Retreat?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: No. I played a couple months ago. Was kind enough of a member let me out here and play a couple rounds. Definitely a beautiful track. It's pretty wet right now, but that's all right. It's really beautiful and I'm excited to play it again.

Q. How does it compare in difficulty with the courses you tend to compete on?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: It's pretty difficult. I'm pretty used to some high-level courses. This one, no different. It's very difficult. Honestly the more difficult the course the better. For me, I would rather play a difficult course than an easy one. It's definitely difficult, but...

Q. Why would you rather play a hard course?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: It just levels out the field a little bit. I think it shows who the really good players are versus the average. I think on an easier course, easier to make birdies and not so easy to mess up.

So I think that the harder the course the better for the really good players.

Q. You were Drive, Chip & Putt national finalist in 2017. What does it mean to come back here having gone through that and now get to experience it from this point of view?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: It's definitely going to be different, but I'm excited for it. Obviously DCP was really fun. As an eight year old I don't think I fully understood what I was getting myself into. It's very different, but I'm excited.

Q. Who is on your bag this week?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: My dad. My dad will be on the bag all week.