Amari Avery completed her final 18 holes of the tournament without a bogey in sight to earn her first Epson Tour win. The California native, spent the week driving to and from her family home while playing a course she grew up competing on the junior golf circuits, giving her a constant feeling of comfort throughout the week.

Avery started the day with a few pars before draining her first birdie on the par-4 No. 5.

“Yeah, honestly, it's really cool, said Amari, “I mean, last year I missed the cut and I felt like I probably should have played better. I've played here a bunch of times. And now I had so much support this year. My whole family came out, a bunch of friends and people that I haven't seen in years. So it kind of felt like this was, this was my time. And I just felt like it was nice that I had a bunch people out with me.”

The win came down to the wire, Avery found herself in the weeds on the par-5 No.16, but came in clutch hacking it out and getting up and down for par.

“It feels really good. It feels really sweet, expressed Avery, “I feel like I've come really close a bunch over the last year and a half. And I just couldn't quite get it done. I felt like I'd been ready for the last year and half as well. Just felt like it's just kind of waiting and it's kind of in due time. So I'm really excited. I'm very happy and I'm glad that I got it for the first tournament of the West Coast stretch.”

With this win, the University of Southern California alumna became the first African American winner in the 46 year history of the Epson Tour.

“I mean, I'm super excited for it. I honestly didn't know that I was the first black to win on the Epson Tour, or any tour, really, Avery shared, “It’s kind of surreal. I haven't really thought about it. Obviously, I have a lot of friends out here that are black and they've been plugging away for years now. And there's been a lot close calls for all of us. I think we'd all be pretty happy that it's happened now. I'm hoping that opens the gates a little bit this year and just years to come.”

Avery is walking away with $30,000 and 500 points, launching her from No. 22 in the Race for the Card to No. 1. The 21-year-old has no time to celebrate as she is heading to Phoenix, Ariz. to compete for her spot in the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open Championship tomorrow morning with an 8:20 a.m. local start time.

“It was something that I thought of coming into today. Avery discussed, “If I could just have a good day, maybe come out with a win, I think that would bring a lot of momentum into tomorrow and obviously we're going to be pretty tired when we get there, so it's just going to more of a marathon. So a lot of holes, 36 holes, we'll just figure it out from there.”

Runner-up Carla Bernat Escuder earned her first second-place finish in just her fourth start on the Epson Tour.

The Spaniard had a rough start to her final round, with a true test on the ninth hole when her hybrid snapped and was unusable for the remainder of the round.

Bernat Escuder mentioned, “I was like, okay, this is the turning point where I'll probably lose it, or I start planning, so I don't need to hit my hybrid. Thinking a little more and just trying to actually enjoy what I'm doing because it was very hard to enjoy at the beginning.”

The Spaniard found five bridies on her closing nine holes and now sits at No. 6 the Race for the Card standings after two consecutive tournaments of strong play.

The final round leaderboard moved quite a bit throughout the day at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon, with Mexico native Lauren Olivares firing a bogey-free 6-under par to climb the leaderboard from T20 into solo fifth.

Nika Ito and Anna Nordfors both had strong starts to their final rounds, but nerves got the best of them as they faltered down the finish line making a combination of bogeys and doubles. The Japanese and Swedish natives both signed for 1-over par rounds to finish in a tie for third.

The Epson Tour heads into the second week of a four week stretch in Scottsdale Arizona on April 30 at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.

Amari Avery Makes History with First Professional Win

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