3 Coloradans — Sophia Eagan, Shepherd Choi and Peyton Landon — are Augusta-bound after qualifying for 2026 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals
By Gary Baines – 10/5/2025
Augusta National, here they come — en masse.
Three Colorado junior golfers — one shy of the single-year record for the Centennial State — on Sunday earned smile-until-your-cheeks-are-sore invitations to the home of the Masters by qualifying for the 2026 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals.
Sophia Eagan of Castle Rock (girls 7-9), Shepherd Choi of Westminster (girls 10-11), and Peyton Landon of Fort Collins (girls 14-15) won their respective Regional Qualifying titles at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. And those victories earn them spots in the DCP National Finals, scheduled for Augusta National Golf Club on April 5, the eve of Masters week.
That brings to 21 the number of Coloradans who have qualified for the DCP National Finals, which were first held in 2014. And Eagan is the sister of a 2023 National Finalist, Jacob Eagan, who lost a putt-off for an overall age-group (boys 7-9) national title that year. Sophia won on Sunday despite being just 6 years old; she’ll turn 7 before the National Finals roll around. She made two of her three putts in the Regionals.
“We’ve been through this journey before,” Sophia’s mother Anya told DriveChipandPutt.com. “All our kids love golf. They pick it up naturally, just as they learn to walk. That’s where we spend our time as a family.”
Sophia and Jacob Eagan included, just in the last five years, 16 Coloradans have landed spots in the National Finals.
And it easily could have been four Coloradans qualifying this time, but Mason Dicken of Centennial tied for first but lost in a playoff to Miles Lunning of Brandon, S.D., in the boys 10-11 division. A single putt each from 15 feet in the playoff determined the winner between the two.
Sophia Eagan ran away with the girls 7-9 title, winning by 25 points (119-94). Choi had a comfortable margin in girls 10-11, prevailing by 14 (103-89). And Landon earned an eight-point victory in the oldest girls division (14-15, by a score of 140-132).
In DCP events, contestants score points in each discipline based on how they place in each compared to one another, with the points added together for a cumulative total. Each competitor hits three drives, three chips and three putts.
On Sunday, Coloradans were dominant in the two youngest girls divisions. Competitors from Colorado finished 1-2-3 in girls 10-11 (Choi, followed by Sydney Liddell of Parker and Angela Gu of Superior), and 1-2-4 in girls 7-9 (Eagan, then Hannah Laird of Greenwood Village in second and Brinley Korum of Colorado Springs in fourth). Liddell was a DCP National Finalist in 2024.
All told, 28 Coloradans competed at Hazeltine on Sunday.
Hazeltine — which has hosted U.S. Opens, PGA Championships, Ryder Cups and U.S. Women’s Opens — is one of 10 DCP Regional qualifiers held in September and October. Each Regional will send eight competitors to the National Finals — one for each age/gender division. All those who advance had previously successfully negotiated Local and Sub-Regional qualifiers.
The 18 Coloradans who have already competed in the DCP National Finals are Caitlyn Chin twice (2016 and ’19), Luke Trujillo (2016), Arielle Keating (2016), Kaden Ford (2018), Chunya Boonta (2019), Grady Ortiz (2019), Sophia Capua (2022), Matai Naqica (2022), Anthony Chen (2022), Judd Nikkel (2022), Jacob Eagan (2023), Brady Shaw (2023), Koehn Kuenzler (2023), Landry Frost (2024), Simon White (2024) Liddell (2024), Isaiah Fowler (2025) and Hudson Blake (2025).
No Coloradan has ever won a DCP overall title at the National Finals, but three have finished runner-up: Eagan (lost a putt-off for the top spot in 2023), Shaw (also 2023) and Boonta (2019).
The DCP National Finals are televised live by the Golf Channel.
Each of the eight gender/age divisions at the National Finals features 10 competitors. In the National Finals at Augusta National, the 80 golfers compete in driving and chipping in the practice area, then in the putting on the 18th green of the famed course.
DCP is sponsored by the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America. The competition is limited to players 7-15.
RESULTS SUNDAY FOR COLORADANS AT 2025 DCP REGIONALS AT HAZELTINE (Drive-Chip-Putt—Total Points)
(Note: Winners in Each Division Advance to National Finals)
Girls 7-9
1. Sophia Eagan, Castle Rock 14-50-55–119
2. Hannah Laird, Greenwood Village 24-30-40—94
4. Brinley Korum, Colorado Springs 9-30-31—70
Boys 7-9
2. Emmet Ertmer, Golden 29-22-55—106
8. Jace Miller, Colorado Springs 21-14-40—75
10. Kyle Matoka, Colorado Springs 9-3-45—57
12. Decker Armenta, Loveland 11-16-21–48
Girls 10-11
1. Shepherd Choi, Westminster 41-26-36–103
2. Sydney Liddell, Parker 13-31-45—89
3. Angela Gu, Superior 40-22-26—88
11. Lizzie Steelman, Denver 10-4-31—45
Boys 10-11
T1. Mason Dicken, Centennial 39-35-50–124 (lost in a playoff)
5. Keegan Dusatko, Broomfield 37-12-41—90
9. Max Dolon, Fort Collins 13-21-45—79
Girls 12-13
5. Gracie Bigus, Loveland 35-18-31—84
9. Aleena Thangmettajittakul, Golden 27-30-12—69
10. Avery Diane, Grand Junction 9-16-40—65
12. Adelyn Kim, Aurora 16-16-32—64
Boys 12-13
2. Cooper Green, Englewood 32-35-65—132
10. Benjamin Purviance, Littleton 26-5-45—76
11. Graham Brenning, Aurora 0-22-35—57
Girls 14-15
1. Peyton Landon, Fort Collins 35-50-55—140
4. Henly Wilson, Colorado Springs 43-25-60—128
6. Isla Carlucci, Fort Collins 31-37-50—118
8. Amy Ong, Centennial 44-27-36–107
Boys 14-15
5. Brady Shaw, Pueblo 41-36-42—119
8. Joey Banks, Golden 23-30-60–113
11. Chance Emerson, Loveland 37-40-27—104
For all the results from Hazeltine on Sunday, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com