This weekend will see Augustana National Golf Club become the epicenter of the sports world as the 2025 Masters gets underway. The spectacle is held in such high regard due to the mystique of the course and the top-notch pageantry that surrounds the tournament. When things get underway on Thursday for the first round, one golfer playing in the tournament as one of the five amateurs in the field is a former member of the Iowa Hawkeyes men's golf team.
Noah Kent, a native of Naples, Florida, golfed for the Iowa Hawkeyes during the fall of 2023 and the spring of 2024. While at Iowa, he shot a low round of 68 in the fall and led the team in the spring with an average of 72.8 strokes per round. Kent registered five top 25 finishes and three top 10 finishes during the spring for Iowa. He has since transferred to Florida.
Noah Kent qualified for the 2025 Masters by finishing as the runner-up in the U.S. Amateur tournament. His first round will get underway on Thursday, April 10th at 7:35 a.m. CT when he tees off alongside golf legend and two-time Masters champion Berhard Langer. The group will be rounded out by Will Zalatoris. Friday sees the trio tee off at 10:49 a.m. CT.
The 2025 Masters tees off on Thursday morning at Augusta National. With one of the richest histories in the sport, the tournament is one of the most exciting majors of the entire year. One of the unique aspects of the Masters is that the tournament invites a select group of amateurs—non-professional golfers—to participate each year. One of the best finishes from an amateur we saw in recent years was Sam Bennett in 2023, who finished in the top-20 at Augusta National.
This year, five amateurs are competing in the 2025 Masters Tournament: Jose Luis Ballester, Evan Beck, Justin Hastings, Noah Kent, and Hiroshi Tai. Each of these young talents brings a unique story and set of accomplishments to the prestigious event.
Jose Luis Ballester is a senior at Arizona State, where he has had three top-five finishes this season, including All-American honors for the last three years. Last August, he won the U.S. Amateur title at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in addition to winning the European Amateur in 2023. He also represented his home country of Spain in the Eisenhower Trophy in both 2022 and 2023 and was a member of the International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Ballester is currently ranked No. 6 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and has top 10 finish odds of +3000.
Another amateur, Evan Beck, graduated from Wake Forest in 2013. He won the U.S. Mid-Amateur last September, along with the George L. Coleman Invitational and the George C. Thomas Invitational in 2024. Beck is originally from Virginia Beach and is currently ranked No. 18 in WAGR, also with top 10 finish odds of +3000.
Justin Hastings, who is just the second player in Masters tournament history to represent the Cayman Islands, won the Latin America Amateur Championship in January. As a senior at San Diego State, Hastings has been a two-time All-Mountain West golfer and is currently ranked No. 24 in WAGR, with top 10 finish odds of +3000. He finished 13th at this year's Mexico Open, shooting 13 under par.
Hiroshi Tai, a junior at Georgia Tech, took home the NCAA Division I National Championship last year by just one stroke, earning his spot in this year's Masters. He is ranked No. 47 in WAGR with top 10 finish odds of +15000. Tai is notable for being the first player to represent Singapore in the Masters and for having served 22 months of mandatory military duty right after graduating high school in 2020.
Each year, the Masters amateurs get to stay in the Crow’s Nest of Augusta National’s clubhouse and attend the opening dinner. They are also matched with past Masters champions for their first two rounds of play. Last year, American Neal Shipley took home low-amateur honors with his tie for 53rd—he was the only one of five amateurs to make the cut at Augusta National in 2024.
In the rich history of the Masters, the best performance by an amateur was Ken Venturi’s solo second-place finish in 1956. Frank Stranahan in 1947 and Charlie Coe in 1961 both tied for second. This year, the competition is fierce, and all eyes will be on the young amateurs as they navigate the challenges of Augusta National.
Noah Kent, who began his NCAA career at Iowa before transferring to Florida, has a college career-best round of 63 at last year’s Puerto Rico Classic and also holds the Florida high school low-round record of 64. Despite a recent setback at the PGA Tour’s Houston Open, where he missed the cut due to a pretournament case of food poisoning, Kent is eager to make his mark at the Masters.
As the tournament unfolds, fans and analysts alike will be watching closely to see how these amateurs perform against some of the best players in the world. With the stage set and the excitement building, the 2025 Masters promises to deliver unforgettable moments and showcase the future stars of golf.
