Written By: Greg Johnson
FARMINGTON HILLS – Alena Li sets goals that usually involve playing as well as possible each time out.
“I want to win when I go to a tournament but I can still be happy when I don’t win if I played the best I could that day,” said the 15-year-old junior at Okemos High School.
Li, the winner of the overall girls’ title in the GAM Junior Stroke Play Championship and a consistent top finisher through the season, has been named the 2023 Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Junior Girls’ Player of the Year, Alex Clark, director of tournament operations, announced today.
“I’m excited, it is an honor to be Player of the Year,” she said. “There are so many good players all around the state and they all play in the GAM tournaments. The tournaments are a lot of fun and challenging.”
Li, a Youth on Course Michigan member of the GAM, opted to play with the older girls instead of in the 15-and-under age division when she won the GAM Junior Stroke Play title. That win helped her total 1,100 points for the season to top all junior girls.
Lauren Timpf of Macomb, the Michigan Girls’ Junior State Amateur champion and a Youth on Course Michigan member, was second with 1,017.
Elise Fennell of Caledonia and StoneWater Country Club (800 points), Mia Melendez of Ann Arbor (682.5) and GAM Junior Kickoff winner Jessica Jolly of Rockford and Blythefield Country Club (617.5) rounded out the top five.
Player of the Year points can be found on a pull down from the PLAY tab at GAM.org. In the last few weeks Kimberly Dinh of Midland was named the Women’s Player of the Year, August Meekhof of Eastmanville the Men’s Player of the Year, Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett the Senior Women’s Player of the Year, Greg Davies of West Bloomfield the Senior Men’s Player of the Year and John Morgan of Novi the Super Senior Player of the Year.
In the next two weeks the GAM will announce three more Player of the Year awards in junior golf categories. The Players of the Year awards are presented by Carl’s Golfland.
Li said her top performances of the summer were in the Junior Stroke Play and in reaching the semifinals in match play at the Michigan Girls’ Junior State Amateur.
“When I play my best I’m pretty accurate with my irons, and I hit a lot of good shots in those tournaments,” she said. “I worked hard on my short game all summer, and that’s where I improved the most, too.”
Li, the daughter of Kun Li and Li Gao, has worked with PGA teaching professional Jason Guss since she was about 10-years-old and hopes to one day play collegiate golf.
“Jason Guss has helped me a lot with my swing over the years,” she said. “I have been recruited a little by college coaches, but right now I’m still concentrating on my academics.”
Clark said Li is quietly consistent and has a great demeanor for competitive golf.
“She doesn’t say much, just goes about her business, sticks to her program and the results speak for themselves,” he said. “She’s always near the top of the leaderboard and obviously competes with and sometimes beats the golfers older than her. It bodes well for her future in the game.”
