Rolex's support of junior golf and the AJGA spans more than three decades. Along the way, there have been moments of excellence. The AJGA, in partnership with Rolex, seeks to celebrate these moments and recognize the accomplishments of junior golfers both on and off the course.
Katie Li has an accomplished junior golf career that most players only dream of. She has 24 top-10 AJGA finishes, including two AJGA wins and numerous top Invitational finishes. She has signed a National Letter of Intent to Duke University and is a three-time Rolex Junior All-American. She was also named a Rolex Scholastic Junior All-American in 2022.
Among all of these accomplishments, she reflects on her time as a player representative on the AJGA Board of Directors as something she will never forget.
I learned a lot. The AJGA staff members and the board members are all so welcoming. It was intimidating at first, but I got more confident and they liked where I was coming from and listened to my ideas.
After watching player representatives in the past, Li decided early on that she wanted the opportunity and began to speak to AJGA staff about it two years before her appointment. Her inquiries paid off and in the spring of 2022, she attended her first meeting.
Li had the opportunity to weigh in on decisions and provide perspective. She was also an integral part of interacting with and entertaining sponsors such as Rolex and sharing how much their support has benefited her and the rest of the AJGA membership. Experiencing the inner workings of the AJGA gave her a new perspective on the organization as a whole.
There is always room for improvement and at the board meetings they brought up things I would never have even thought of. There is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes than I realized.
The AJGA is always trying to improve. Having Li and past player representatives on the board of directors has given members a voice to help accomplish initiatives or make improvements. The benefit is not just to the AJGA however, as the player representatives gain valuable experience they will use throughout their lives.
I think I have developed as a person. I'm better at speaking and better at speaking up for myself. It has really helped me with my overall presentation of myself and I've become more confident in myself, especially in a room of adults.
The player representative position on the board of directors has been around since 1980 and is designed to give members a voice in decisions and give them the opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns. Past player representatives have included Matthew Wolff, Mariah Stackhouse, Talor Gooch, Morgan Pressel, Webb Simpson, Ryan Hybl, Boyd Summerhays, Lisa Cornwell, Vicki Goetze and Justin Leonard.