October 16, 2021 | BY LELAND HARDY
Mountain Ridge Country Club, West Caldwell, NJ: Exactly one week ago today one international superstar was flirting with the cast members of Saturday Night Live in preparation for her debut appearance on the iconic sketch comedy show of the same name, while another international superstar in the making was flirting with the cut line in her own debut appearance, i.e. her debut LPGA Tour appearance in the Cognizant Founders Cup.
The former is none other than Kim Kardashian. The latter is teen golf phenom, Amari Avery. Both ladies earned rave reviews for their respective debut appearances. Fresh from going 3-0 in last month’s Ping Junior Solheim Cup against the very best European amateur golfers the GOAT, Annika Sörenstam, could assemble, Amari, playing as an amateur, put the world’s very best golfers on notice that she is, as they say, very much the real deal and is a force with which to be reckoned.
Perhaps as importantly, Avery put event organizers and the event’s Sponsor, international IT consulting and BPO giant, Cognizant, on notice that the likely future standard bearer of women’s golf has been well groomed to represent the game of golf with class, grace, dignity, and great skill, just as the 13 LPGA Tour “Founders,” after whom the event was named, and later the likes of the legendary Althea Gibson and Renée Powell could have only hoped for.
Avery had an admittedly rough start at the meticulously maintained par 71 West Caldwell country club. “I was trying to get on a proverbial birdie train to start the tournament, but, unfortunately, according to my scorecard, it looks like I got on a bogey train!” Amari quipped jokingly with her infectious smile. “It’s one thing to operate at the top of the amateur golf world where you’re extremely comfortable, but another thing entirely when you’re in a field with the world’s top ranked professionals and essentially all of the ladies you see challenging for Major Championships on TV” Avery continued.
A straight “A” student rising senior high schooler who has committed to attend the University of Southern California in the Class of 2022, Avery is a quick study and a fast learner.
That ability to shake off the opening round jitters and to learn from her opening round course management errors was on full display in the tournament’s second round. Compared to just a single birdie in Round 1, Avery posted five birdies in Round 2, including a jaw-dropping birdie on the par 5 18th in which she was one of a scant few golfers over all four days to reach the green in 2,
She blasted her tee shot center cutting the fairway. Leaving herself a midiron “approach” to within 8 feet of the pin, her exploits were the envy of every player in the feld and every patron in attendance. Her excellently well read putt for eagle ended up just a few ball revolutions shy of the cup, forcing her to settle for birdie on the finishing hole.
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“I’m very pleased that we didn’t repeat a single mistake on day 2 that we made on day 1” stated Amari’s father, Andre Avery, who doubled as her caddie in the tournament. “If you look at her card, she didn’t make a single bogie in round 2 on any hole on which she made a bogie in round 1. That’s called cleaning up one’s card, literally and figuratively, and I couldn’t be prouder of her and the way she handled herself out there” the self-proclaimed Caddie Daddy continued.
“If I could just have read the putts better for her on 14 and 16, she’d have been in for the weekend. I’ll take those two on the chin a la Fury – Wilder III” he lamented, referring to the epic Heavyweight Championship of the World thriller.
“I want to thank the folks at Rocket Mortgage who organized the inaugural John Shippen Invitational in Detroit, my winning at which led to my earning a berth in this Cognizant Founders Cup field, and I want to thank the folks at Cognizant who were the epitome of First Class in every aspect of their operation. I hope I get to earn my way back here again” the starlet effused. Amari’s younger sister, Alona Avery, herself an amateur star, was in tow to take it all in as big sis acquitted herself admirably against the world’s best.
It’s now back to the books for Amari as she readies herself for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, both in the classroom and on the course. Avery and family are very cognizant of what matters most.
LELAND HARDY (@LelandHardy) is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, financier, and former professional athlete. He is the Founder of RacialBias,org, a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation focused on identifying and helping to eradicate bias in all of its forms wherever it is found in society, Strivers Row Media, the crisis management and media advisory firm, and Nice Time, Inc., a key manufacturer and supplier of healthcare products to First Responders amid the Coronavirus pandemic via www.AmericanPPEsupplier.com. Hardy is also a Board Member of Sport BLX and is a contributing writer to leading sports and finance publications.
