Amari Avery: From ‘The Short Game’ to the U.S. Women’s Open2

Amari Avery has emerged as a rising star in women’s golf since she started playing when she was three. Since then, she has featured in a Netflix documentary, won an amateur tour event on professional tour as an amateur, and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at 17! Here is her story of transformation from child prodigy to USC Women’s Golf standout.

The Short Game

In 2013, Netflix released the documentary titled “The Short Game”, following eight young golfers from around the world as they competed in the U.S. Kids Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. One such young golfer was Amari Avery who shared her birthday with Tiger Woods (Dec 31) and similarly had a Black father and Thai mother; Avery earned herself the nickname of “Tigress” by her father; Avery finished second overall behind another star of this documentary Alexa Pano.

The Cactus Tour

Avery continued her golfing pursuits, and in 2020 achieved an extraordinary achievement: winning a professional tour event as an amateur. Competing on the Cactus Tour — a developmental circuit for women golfers — she triumphantly captured victory at Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix, Arizona by shooting an impressive final round 66 which finished 11-under par, three strokes ahead of second place and becoming only second youngest winner ever on this developmental circuit – behind Lydia Ko.

The U.S. Women’s Open

2021 saw Avery reaching yet another major achievement: she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, one of golf’s oldest and most renowned major championships for women golfers. Avery shared medalist honors at Brentwood Country Club in Los Angeles where they shot 5-under par for 36 holes en route to earning one of only 156 spots to compete at The Olympic Club in San Francisco from June 3 through 6. This will mark Avery’s debut appearance at this major tournament and she will join former “The Short Game” co-star Pano, also who qualified.

The USC Women’s Golf

Avery has already secured her college golf future, having decided to enroll at the University of Southern California for 2022. There, she will join their Women’s Golf team, which boasts an impressive history of producing top players and winning championships. Avery is ranked second by Golfweek among her class of 2022 classmates. She chose USC due to its academic reputation, proximity to Riverside, California home, coaching staff led by Justin Silverstein as well as alumni such as Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Jennifer Song who have successfully gone onto LPGA careers following graduation from USC;

Amari Avery, one of the young stars in golf, has already proven her mettle over just a short career span, showing talent, work ethic and personality necessary for success at the highest levels. Avery will certainly be worth keeping an eye out for during this year’s U.S. Women’s Open.