Hometown Hero: Odwin First Golfer From Barbados to Qualify for a Major Championship

As the sun set on The Olympic Club, in San Francisco Calif., on April 28, 21-year-old Emily Odwin, of Barbados, waited patiently to see how the results of the 36-hole U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally qualifier would play out. Marathon days like these can produce anxious moments, especially when you’re trying to make history.

A 3-under-par total of 139 (68-71) on the Lake Course, a venue that has previously hosted five U.S. Opens, one U.S. Women’s Open and will host another U.S. Amateur in August, was good enough to be in contention for one of three available spots into the field of the 80th rendition of the championship.

A few hours later, Odwin got the news she and the entire small Caribbean nation wanted: she had punched her ticket to Erin Hills.  

Qualifying for the biggest championship in women’s golf is a huge accomplishment for any golfer. But this one was extra special for Odwin, becoming the first golfer from Barbados to qualify for any major championship – male or female. 
 
Golf is far from the most popular sport on this small island of around 280,000 inhabitants. The country, best known for its pristine beaches, only has six golf courses, including Royal Westmoreland Golf Club, where Odwin learned the game. At 11 years old, Odwin switched her focus from the many other sports she played to golf. The competitive golf scene in Barbados was limited, with few official tournaments and even fewer girls to compete against. For continued growth, Odwin needed to find alternative ways to push herself.  
 
“As I got older and as I got better, it was tougher for me to find competition and I had to start to travel outwards,” said Odwin. “I started to come to the [United States], or I had to go over to Europe. When I was at home, I started having to play with the boys a lot. I would have to play in their division, off their tees ...There are not a lot of girls play[ing] golf in Barbados and there weren't a lot of competitive opportunities back home.”  
 
Odwin’s international travel was pivotal in getting noticed by colleges, but that progress was put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because Barbados is such a small, isolated island, restrictions were even tighter than the rest of world. Odwin recalls FaceTime calls with her coach Denny Foster while hitting into a backyard net and playing in makeshift tournaments with other locals just to stay in competitive shape.
 
When travel restrictions were eventually loosened, she visited her U.S.-based uncle to make a return to official competition. That trip proved to be important, as she successfully qualified for the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Columbia Country Club, in Chevy Chase, Md., where she finished 80th. She also qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Westchester Country Club, in Rye, N.Y., finishing 65th. She was the first player from Barbados to play in each of those championships.

“As difficult as [finding competition] is, it can get done,” said Odwin, a rising senior at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas. “You just have to go outwards. It sounds like a pretty big challenge, I'm sure. The costs associated with traveling [all] over the place, getting in all these tournaments.”  
 
Odwin understands the financial sacrifice that it takes to get someone from Barbados to one of the biggest stages in golf, and is grateful to those who supported her along the way.  
 
“My parents are awesome,” she said. “I'm really lucky to have two parents who were so willing to let me play all these different sports and pick the path that I wanted to pick, the path that I enjoyed the most. Once I did pick that path, they were just really supportive and were willing to kind of put everything that they had behind to help me be as successful as I wanted to be.”  
 
Those sacrifices combined with Odwin’s performances at the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur eventually led to a scholarship to the University of Texas before she eventually transferred to SMU in the fall of 2023. Odwin has found a home at SMU and credits her coaches for playing a key role in the program’s continued growth and success.
 
In her first year with the Mustangs, Odwin recorded four top-six finishes and helped lead her team to the 2024 NCAA Championships after finishing T-17 individually at regionals. On the international stage, she was the runner-up at the 2024 Latin America Women’s Amateur and placed sixth at the 2025 Australian Women's Amateur Championship. 
 
Due to conflicting schedules with SMU’s postseason events – the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and NCAA regionals – Odwin chose The Olympic Club site for her U.S. Women’s Open qualifier. During the opening round of the 36-hole event, she got off to a quick start with five birdies, finishing at 3 under par. In the second round, Odwin remained steady with two birdies and two bogeys to post 139.  

Then came the agonizing wait every qualifying hopeful goes through. Would her score hold up against the rest of the field? Ninety minutes later, she got the official word: Odwin was heading to Wisconsin.  
 
“It was like, holy s***,” Odwin said with a smile. “We just did that. It took a while [for it] to sink in, and I don’t know if it’s going to ever fully sink in until I’m there. It was just crazy.”  
 
Odwin hopes to use this historic feat to inspire a new wave of golfers from back home, and maybe give Barbados some global publicity.

A competitor, trailblazer and a symbol of what’s possible, Odwin will proudly carry the Barbadian flag to America’s Heartland. 
 
“It means a lot. It's everything you work for,” said Odwin. “Especially for me, coming from an island where golf is not as big a sport as it is in some other countries, I'm hoping that something like this can make it a little bit bigger and help elevate the game back home... If you can help get other kids into it or help get other people to pick up the clubs, then you've done a good job... It's not going to be easy, there's going to be a lot of setbacks.”

“If they can work through those setbacks, and if they can still continue and be committed to working hard, something like this would be possible for them too.”  

Griffin Genobaga is a summer USGA Championship Communications intern. Email him at ggenobaga@usga.org.