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AUGUSTA, Ga. — When firefighting is your profession, the concept of pressure takes on a different meaning. On Saturday, during the final round of the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA), a local firefighter found himself thrust into the spotlight of women’s golf. Darren Woo, a firefighter at Savannah River Site, also lends his expertise as a caddie at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans. This dual role led to his fortuitous meeting with the eventual ANWA winner, Maria Jose Marin.
“We crossed paths about two weeks ago at Champions Retreat,” Woo recounted. “It was a Saturday, possibly two or three weeks back, when Maria, along with her Arkansas teammates Sara Brentcheneff and Reagan Zibilski, came for a practice session. Reagan’s father was also present, and I introduced them to Champions Retreat.”
Unbeknownst to them, this meeting laid the foundation for a historic partnership. After returning to the University of Arkansas, where she is a junior and the current NCAA champion, Marin received advice from her coach, Shauna Taylor—a former golf standout at the University of Georgia—to enlist Woo as her caddie for the ANWA.
“I felt privileged when she reached out to me—I’m just trying to juggle being a dad,” said Woo, who is a father to five sons and a grandfather to a three-year-old girl. “My approach was to treat her like my own daughter, boosting her confidence and offering continuous encouragement.”
“I was fortunate enough that she called me — I’m just trying to be a dad,” said Woo, who has five sons and a three year-old granddaughter. “So pretty much all it was was treating her like a daughter of mine and continue to build her confidence, continue to just kind of encouraging her.
“There were times where she could have gotten down, and I said, hey, just be patient; it’s there. It was like a father-daughter relationship.”
In two weeks, the two developed a symbiotic relationship that resulted in making ANWA history when Marin set the tournament scoring record and became the first champion from Latin America and Colombia.
“With Mr. Darren, I think he was my greatest support during the whole week and a key to the victory,” Marin said. “He kept me calm through the whole round, same as in Champions Retreat. Of course this round was extra special because of course it’s a round at Augusta, and there’s a lot of pressure.
“Every time that I did a bad shot, he’s like, well, breathe, calm down. You’re going to work it out. It’s fine. Give yourself a chance. Nothing happened. Keep your head up. I think all of his words of encouragement just helped me get the win today and get my mind on the goal.”
Used to fighting flames, on Saturday Woo was stoking them.
“She was on fire herself,” he said. “I was not putting that fire out. She was hitting it well, and I just — she was surprised when she hit the 3-wood up to the top on 18, and I said, the juices are — she was pumped. She was stoked.”
