Li Is 2024 GAM Junior Girls Player of the Year

GAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Alena Li of Okemos Tops 2024 Junior Girls’ Points List

  FARMINGTON HILLS – In 2024 Alena Li of Okemos worked significantly on her putting and gained confidence as she improved, but she also concentrated on something else.

  “I went into each tournament determined to do my best, but I also tried to really enjoy the competition and getting to play with friends,” she said. “I enjoyed competing more. I had a lot of fun playing in tournaments over the summer.

  Li, who will be 17 in January and is a senior at Okemos High School, also played especially well. She won the Michigan Junior Girls’ State Amateur Championship, the GAM Girls’ Championship and the Michigan PGA Girls’ Junior title.

  A Youth on Course Michigan member, she amassed 1,440 points to top the GAM Junior Girls’ Points List and has been named the GAM Junior Girls’ Player of the Year, Alex Clark, director of tournament operations, announced today.

  It’s the second consecutive year she has won the honor.

  “It was a goal to be player of the year again because I thought it would keep me trying to improve,” she said. “When I won the (GAM Girls’ Championship) in the spring it motivated me to keep playing well the rest of the year.”

 Grace Slocum of Traverse City, a GAM member with her family at the Kingsley Club in Kingsley, the winner of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Division 4 state title, finished second with 1,030 points.

  Macie Elzinga of Byron Center and Spring Lake Country Club, who was stroke play medalist and runner-up to Li in the Michigan Junior Girls’ State Amateur and was a semifinalist in the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship, was third with 960 points.

  Mia Melendez of Ann Arbor, a Youth on Course Michigan member with 881 points, and Lillian O’Grady of Grand Rapids and Watermark Country Club with 800 points rounded out the top five.

  Player of the Year point totals can be found on a pull down from the PLAY tab at GAM.org Carl’s Golfland is the presenting sponsor of the points lists.

  Recently, McCoy Biagioli of White Lake was named the GAM Men’s Player of the Year, Elayna Bowser of Dearborn was named the Women’s Player of the Year, Randy Lewis of Alma was named the Super Senior Player of the Year, Leo Daigle of Wixom was named the Senior Men’s Player of the Year, Lori Schlicher of Lewiston was named the Senior Women’s Player of the Year and Cooper Reitsma of Ada was named the Junior Boys’ Player of the Year.  The GAM will announce 15-and-under junior players of the year next week.

  Li plans another summer of GAM competition and has decided to pick her college based on academics instead of golf. She is considering a career in computer science.

  “I’ve talked with coaches, but I plan to choose a college and then either try to play on their golf team or play club golf,” she said. “I’ve always placed a lot of importance on my academics, and I’ve been able to balance my time between golf and my studies.”

  Clark said Li, winning two significant GAM titles over the summer, reflected her incredible talent level.

  “She is on the quiet side, but lets her golf do the talking,” he said. “She is very consistent and can adapt to different situations on the course with a level head. From what I’ve seen, she is very accurate and rarely finds herself in troublesome spots. As with all top players, Alena is a hard worker and continuously improves her game. Being levelheaded and a hard worker are great attributes at a young age. Alena’s golfing future is extremely bright.”