Duke women’s golfers Katie Li and Avery McCrery both took on summer competition recently, and Li was the one who kept pushing deep into match play.
The rising senior from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, reached the quarterfinals of the New Jersey Golf Association’s 101st Women’s Amateur Championship at Essex Fells Country Club. Li, the 2025 New Jersey Women’s Amateur champion, opened with a 1-over 74 in stroke-play qualifying before rolling past Olivia Gaglione 3-and-2 in the round of 16.
After trailing early on the front nine, Li flipped the match by winning holes Nos. 8-12 and closed it out on No. 16.
Her quarterfinal against top-seeded Grace Lu was a back-and-forth battle. Lu won the second hole to go 1 up, but Li answered with a birdie on the third to square things up.
Lu then grabbed Nos. 8 and 9 to move 2 up, and Li cut into the lead with a birdie on No. 12.
Lu responded by winning Nos. 14 and 15 to go 3 up with three holes left. Li made one last push, taking the 16th and 17th, but both players parred No. 18 and Lu held on for a 1-up win.
Li also advanced to match play at the Women’s Western Amateur in Elmhurst, Illinois, held July 6-11. She posted rounds of 73 and 69 in stroke-play qualifying for a 2-under 142, good for a tie for 12th. McCrery, meanwhile, carded 73 and 75 for a 4-over 148 and did not move on.
In the round of 32, Li ran into Alli Wiertel and got off to a rough start, falling 3 down through four holes. She steadied herself by winning Nos. 5 and 6, but Wiertel answered with three straight holes to build a 4-up cushion heading to the back nine. Li kept fighting and won Nos. 10, 12 and 13, but the comeback stopped there in a 4-and-2 defeat.
Duke incoming freshman Mia Hammond is next up, set to tee off Friday, July 17, at the Epson Tour’s Greater Toledo Classic in Sylvania, Ohio. The event runs July 17-19, and Hammond returns as the defending champion after rounds of 66, 66 and 69 left her at 12-under par. She became just the eighth amateur to win on the Epson Tour.
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