Michigan’s Miss Golf: Alena Li
By Tom Lang
With the high school season she had this fall, Alena Li of Okemos is a slam dunk choice as the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association pick for Miss Golf 2024.
Li, still only 16-years-old but a senior at Okemos High after skipping 8th grade, ran the table during the season, winning every 18-hole tournament she played in, from the start of the season to the Division 1 state championship – 11 events in all.
“I haven’t seen a more worthy winner in recent years than Alena was this year; incredible year,” said Okemos coach Dan Stolz. “She’s such a good example of how to conduct your business and how to be great. People say these things often but it’s true that she’s the first one there and the last one to leave. And she’s so humble and hard working. She deserves everything she’s getting.”
Most golfers are ecstatic to drop a few strokes off their scores from one season to the next, and at the high school level, that’s more often from an 85 to an 82. Li went from 71.75 last year to 68.6 this fall. Li’s worst score of the season was a 74, and she shot 64 on three different occasions, one of those when winning the Div. 1 regional.
“There isn’t a single (teammate) that’s one iota jealous of the accolades she gets because they just know how good she is and how much better she is than they are, and how kind and humble she is,” Stolz added. “You have to dig it out of her to find out anything of what she’s done. She’s just super humble and a kid I’m really proud of. I think she had her most fun this year than any other.”
Although not part of the Miss Golf voting, Li blitz the summer junior schedule with Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) wins. She won the Michigan Junior Girls’ State Amateur title, and the GAM Girls’ Championship, before her recent victory at the GAM Junior Invitational. She won the latter with a 74 at MSU’s Forest Akers West Course, home of the Spartan golf teams, for a six-stroke winning margin.
MHSAA High School Finals Results:
Division 1:
Northville won four consecutive team titles in 20018-21, then won again this fall for five titles in the last seven years.
Northville senior Sanya Singhal, sophomore Naaz Gill, and freshmen McKenzie Stevens and Cam Baker were mirroring each other for Northville. In rounds one and two, Singhal, Stevens, and Baker shot 80-82, respectively, while Gill went 82-80 in that order over the two days.
Okemos senior Alena Li won as medalist with a two-day 73-73-146.
“I think winning some tournaments in the summer gave me a lot of confidence coming into the high school season,” she said. “I was really confident with my game, and I was feeling good and it’s super exciting to win states for my senior season.”
Division 2:
Farmington Hills Mercy completed a three-peat as the Marlins fended off a late comeback from runner-up Dexter to win by five strokes with a two-day total of 677.
Speaking of Dexter, junior Avery Manning claimed the medalist honor with a 1-under-par 141. She finished ahead of Spring Lake’s Zoe Dull, who shot 146.
Division 3:
Medalist Lillian O’Grady of Grand Rapids Christian was the only golfer under par (-2) during the final round at Bedford Valley. She closed out a 145 (75-70) for a nine-stroke win over second place Averie Pumford of Freeland.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central defended it’s state championship form 2023 by finishing with a two-day total of 652, well ahead of runner up Detroit Country Day, which had 717 strokes. Williamston, the team runner-up last year, recorded a 722 for third place.
Division 4:
Traverse City St. Francis senior Grace Slocum, a Wisconsin commit, slam dunked an approach shot from 40 yards to eagle the 6th hole, on her way to winning the state title. She shot 75-69-144.
Kalamazoo Christian won its first ever girls’ golf title when senior Jordyn Bonnema led her team with a two-day score of 157 (78-79) to place 4th individually.
