Emilia Migliaccio pulling double duty as player and reporter at 2023 U.S. Women’s Open
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Technically, this isn’t a honeymoon. But when Emilia Migliaccio looks back on the immediate days following her wedding, this is what she’ll remember.
“We’re not going to think of Costa Rica, if we go next January,” she said Tuesday. “We’re going to think of here.”
Migliaccio is in the field for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, having advanced through qualifying. It’s part of an amazing stretch for the 24-year-old, who helped Wake Forest win the NCAA Women’s Division I national championship in May.
She also earned her master’s degree in communications and got married to Charlie Doran.
The wedding took place on June 24 at the Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh, North Carolina. There were 113 guests – mostly family – at the ceremony and reception, which included a DJ who “was just playing bangers all night.”
It was exactly how she envisioned and no sooner had she and Charlie returned to their new home base in Charlotte, they repacked for Northern California.
The two arrived last week and have been guests at the Pebble Beach house of Ben Sutton, a prominent Wake Forest donor. Along with them are some of Charlie’s family as well as Wake women’s golf coach Kim Lewellen and her husband, John, a Wake assistant who is also Migliaccio’s primary swing coach. Kim Lewellen will caddie for her this week, though, Sutton set them up with a local caddie for practice rounds to further gain insight on the course.
While Migliaccio had never played on the Monterey Peninsula before arriving last week, she’s made up for lost time.
Before the start of championship week, she played at Pebble and Spyglass and Cypress Point, the latter of which was a wedding gift for both she and Charlie.
After nine holes at Pebble on Monday and a full 18 on Tuesday, she’ll chip and putt for another nine on Wednesday. And then she’ll get to work, pulling double duty.
Full-field tee times from the U.S. Women’s Open
Migliaccio is not only competing this week, she’s working as an on-course reporter.
Tuesday, Lexi Thompson was part of her practice foursome. Thursday, she’ll be part of Migliaccio’s featured group coverage on Peacock.
Migliaccio will be on the course for Thompson, Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko for their 8:50 a.m. PT start on the 10th hole.
She won’t be able to wrap up the group, however, as she tees off alongside Alice Hewson and Kana Mikashima at 1:18 p.m. off the first.
“They’ll let me leave when I feel comfortable doing so and I’ll have a cart, so hopefully won’t have to walk too much. But it should be great,” she said. “I’m really excited to get to see, you know, three of the best players in the world play golf and just seeing how it’s playing for them, then getting to go out in the afternoon and getting to try to replicate that.”
Friday morning, she’ll do the reverse. She’ll tee off on No. 10 at 7:33 a.m., and then head out for the Thompson-Korda-Ko group at 2:35 p.m.
“I’m definitely looking at it as an advantage and just getting to observe and see not only how they play the course, but just how they go about handling themselves at a major championship,” Migliaccio said.
“I’ll soak in all the information – their body language, how they react – but it’ll be really exciting on Friday when I get to play first and then commentate. I really hope there’s a moment where I’ve putted the exact same putt that Lexi has, and I can say, ‘OK, she needs to make sure she plays enough break because it just snaps right at the hole,’ because I literally just putted it.”
And should she make the cut?
“Yep, should be the same,” she said. There will be a morning and an afternoon featured group on both Saturday and Sunday, so she’ll be working, either way.
“Definitely,” she said. “I’ve committed to what I’m working and regardless of how I’m playing on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll definitely be out doing the featured groups. Because I enjoy it and it’s going to be my job.”
Migliaccio noted that this will be her final competitive tournament for a while. She’s done with college and will be doing at least 11 weeks of broadcast work, primarily for NBC Sports’ amateur golf coverage, but also a couple of PGA Tour Live events.
“I’m just really trying to soak this all in,” she said about her Pebble experience. “And I couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds.”