with an evening drive from Beaumont, Calif., to Phoenix. That’s where the 21-year-old is playing a Monday U.S. Women’s Open qualifier. Avery should be carrying some confidence after becoming the first African-American player to win on the Epson Tour on its 46-year history. Golf Digest’s Jaime Diaz wrote in March about the absence of Black players at the top levels of men’s professional golf, noting there’s been progress on some developmental tours. Avery, familiar to many as one of the subjects of the 2013 golf documentary “The Short Game,” hopes the same can happen in the women’s game.

“Obviously, I have a lot of friends out here that are black and they've been plugging away for years now. … 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.”