Junior Players of the Year
Lena Li Tops 2025 Junior Girls’ Points List
By Greg Johnson
Alena Li of Okemos topped has earned GAM Junior Girls’ Player of the Year for the third consecutive time.
“It’s such an honor to be player of the year again,” said the 17-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan. “There are so many great players in Michigan, and being player of the year is always a goal. This year I just tried to have fun on the golf course doing something I love to do. It was a fun year.”
Li won the GAM Girls’ Championship early in the season, then later won the Michigan Girls’ Junior Amateur, which made her exempt for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur, which was played at the Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside Course in Georgia.
“That was such an amazing experience to go there and compete with some of the best golfers from all over the world,” she said. “My sister (Anna) caddied for me, walking with me all of the rounds, and she enjoyed it a lot, too.”
Li isn’t playing college golf. She chose the University of Michigan for academic reasons, but she did join the club golf team and played in one tournament this fall. She plans to play in GAM women’s tournaments next summer.
Chaille Payne of Spring Lake and Spring Lake Country Club, who in 10 summer tournaments finished among the top four eight times, was second with 842.5 points, just 50 points behind Li.
Hannah Kim of Troy, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Boulan Park Middle School, won the 15-and-under category, demonstrating she has a bright future ahead of her. She won the GAM Junior Stroke Play Championship and closed out the season with the 15-and-under Division win at the GAM Junior Invitational. She was also a runner-up to champion Cameron Baker of Novi in the 15-and-under Division of the Michigan Girls’ Junior Amateur. She finished the season with 1,105 player of the year points in a tight race with Cameron Baker, who was second.
JP Levan Tops 2024 Junior Boys’ Points List
With his win this summer in the Michigan Junior Amateur Championship JP Levan of Grand Rapids earned an exemption to play in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
“Going to the U.S. Junior Amateur was the best golf experience I’ve ever had,” he said. “It was a bunch of fun going down there with Tommy (Preston of Grand Rapids) and Cooper (Reitsma of Ada), and it was a thrill to get a chance to play such a prestigious event at such a great venue.”
Levan, 16 and a junior at East Grand Rapids High School, had a summer filled with great golf experiences. In addition to his trip to the U.S. Junior Amateur and win in the Michigan Junior Amateur, he also won the GAM Boys’ Championship. Those performances powered him to the top of the Golf Association of Michigan Points List, and he has been named the 2025 GAM Junior Boy’s Player of the Year.
Levan also plays hockey at East Grand Rapids but said he hopes his future is in playing golf.
“I love hockey, but I love golf more,” he said.
Levan totaled 850 points playing a busy schedule of GAM, AJGA and PGA Junior tournaments. Tommy Preston of Grand Rapids, the champion of the GAM Junior Invitational, was second with 768 points.
Tommy Preston of Grand Rapids, who earned the 15-and-under category, had his two best scoring rounds of his young career at opportunistic times this summer. The 15-year-old Grand Rapids Catholic Central student shot 65 in the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier at The Orchards in Washington Township to earn medalist honors and a spot in the national championship. And, playing up an age group in the overall division, he shot a 66 at Forest Akers West in closing out the season with a victory at the GAM Junior Invitational Championship.
“It’s a great honor to be a player of the year,” Preston said. “It reflects well on one of my best summers and it shows you are one of the best players in the state.”
