What’s next for amateur star Megha Ganne? His future is incredibly bright

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I am lucky to have experienced great moments on golf. Like at the US Women’s Open when I was 17, playing with Lexi Thompson in the final group at the Olympic Club. Winning both of my games for Stanford when we won the NCAAs in 2024. Playing on our dominant USA Curtis Cup team. And of course, win the US Women’s Amateur this summer.

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It’s for these moments that I play golf. I love having the opportunity to show what I can do.

Before I wanted to compete, I loved golf because it was a way to spend time with my father. He often took me to the driving range when I was a child. My mother wanted to get me out of the house – she was studying to be a doctor, and having a 7 year old running around wasn’t ideal for that.

Where I grew up in New Jersey, there were many golf programs for young children. My parents signed me up for the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf and First Tee, which made me love golf even more. Anytime you play golf with other kids, it’s much more fun than doing it alone. It can be quite lonely unless you find friends to play with, but the way I did it, golf never felt lonely.

As I grew up, I started participating in tournaments. I was competitive in everything I did, but golf came more naturally to me, so I gravitated toward that. I love how golf forces you to push your own limits. I love how it asks you to raise the bar for yourself. And I like the idea of ​​trying to be as good as you can, when you know you can never perfect it.

In 2015, I qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. Going to Augusta National for the first time with my family will always be memorable; that’s where I fell in love with competing on the national stage. Being exposed to this when I was just 11 years old was a true gift. It was also some of the most pressure I have ever felt. I feed off the crowds now; It was a lot when I was 11. But I loved the feeling of having to measure up.

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I started working with Katie Rudolph when I was 12 and she is still my coach today. Every summer, she hosted a golf camp. It was quite intense: training in the morning, running a few kilometers, then going to play between 18 and 36 holes. I just loved it. There’s nothing I’d rather do than spend my entire day on the golf course. I began playing in American Junior Golf Association tournaments, and at the age of 13, I qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur for the first time.

The US Women’s Amateur is so hard to win. I’ve played it seven times. The nature of match play is that it is surprising. Every year, many great players don’t necessarily develop as one might expect. To qualify for the championship game, a lot must be accomplished. I learned that the transition from Stroke Play to the Round of 16 is sometimes the hardest. You totally change your mindset, and if you don’t hit reset, you’re in trouble. Playing well the first two days can be difficult because you start match play thinking you have a head start, but the truth is that you don’t.

This year at Bandon DunesI tried to make this mental shift to match play before the Stroke Play even started by completely detaching myself from the outcome of the Stroke Play. It’s easier said than done. But I left thinking that the first two days don’t really matter as long as you’re in the cut line.

I was T10 after the Stroke Play. After winning my first match, I settled in well. The links style course suited my game. I’m comfortable hitting an overhand and working the ball both ways, downwind. This gave me an advantage. I thought about that trophy all day during the 36-hole final. Holding him at the end of the match was a dream come true.

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This fall I competed in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore. I love traveling and seeing new places, and I love team events. And we won! Playing for your country is one of the coolest things you can do as an athlete, like when I played on the Curtis Cup team at Merion in 2022. Being on a team with people you usually play against, you are able to recognize and respect each other. This dynamic is very special because it is so rare.

I was partnered with Amari Avery for the Curtis Cup and the Junior Solheim Cup. We were victorious every time. There is so much adrenaline, fun and enthusiasm for each other. She is a very close friend of mine and we will both cherish these matches for the rest of our lives.

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And yet, the most important moments of my career are not the ones we talk about. These are the weak points. These are the weeks where you feel like a failure after a bad tournament or where you had a huge goal and didn’t achieve it. They test your confidence, like when I missed a few cuts at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. I learned that I can bounce back. This resilience is what is important. I let myself feel how much it sucks not to play well, I talk about it to those around me, my close friends, my parents, my coach. As soon as the moans and groans leave my system, I find what I’m missing and then I tackle it.

I’m in my final year at Stanford. My game has evolved during my time here. I was used to taking a three or four month break every winter, so playing all year round was new to me. The facilities are incredible. Everything you could possibly need is here. I also grew a lot from the atmosphere at Stanford because you are surrounded by high achievers. The environment makes you fall even more in love with your own profession. You feel a good amount of pressure to pursue your own path because you are so motivated and inspired by what others are doing.

I also perfected my greatest strength: my mentality. I am very emotionally detached from my results, good or bad. It’s like winning the US Women’s Amateur: it was the best thing ever, it was a dream come true, a goal achieved, but if I hadn’t won it, my next month would have been pretty similar. I care so much about getting better and doing the things I need to do to put myself in a position to play well, but if I go out there and have a bad score, I don’t let that bother me because it doesn’t feel like my whole life. This mindset gives you the freedom to play very well and the freedom to play very poorly. I’m not afraid of playing badly. It’s an asset.

I am emotionally attached to giving my all. If I go into a tournament feeling unprepared, if there’s a shot that I haven’t worked on enough to be able to hit comfortably in a tournament, that’s what bothers me the most. Everything I do before I show up to a tournament is what I’m emotionally attached to.

Heading into my final season at Stanford, I’m really excited. I was never tempted to turn professional earlier. I got just about everything I could have asked for from Stanford golf. We have a national championship; I would love to win another one, but I lived every day I was at Stanford to the fullest, so if it was all over now, I would be satisfied. I’m in a good place, I’m definitely going to enjoy this year, but I’m also looking forward to the next step.

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Becoming a pro is in the back of my mind. There are a lot of logistics, like what you will play and where you will play. But you have to be flexible in this process. I’m just doing what I can to be as prepared as possible. I would put my best golf game against anyone. But I think the challenge of taking that next step isn’t just about knowing where your peak or potential lies. It’s about getting to the level where you have enough stamina to play solid golf all year round, taking care of your body and managing your fatigue so you can be there week in and week out. I think what the casual observer doesn’t see becomes the hard part.

I’m excited about where women’s golf is and where it’s headed. Since the age of 17, I have been recognized on golf courses and even in airports. The coolest thing is the diversity of people who come up to me. Little kids are my favorite fans, but the diversity of people, ages, golfers and non-golfers who have contacted me or acknowledged me in public is truly amazing. This shows that women’s golf is reaching more and more people. Knowing that I’m only doing a small part of it is very cool.

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