Amari Avery experienced a tumultuous weekend during the U.S. Women’s Open, characterized by an incident and a game-time mix-up. Avery found herself borrowing a friend’s clubs for one of the biggest rounds of her career, yet she managed to make the cut. This unpredictable weekend also involved a concerning situation at her initial accommodation.
The commotion began early Friday morning. Avery and her family, who were lodging in Milwaukee, had to call the police after spotting a suspicious individual near their residence. “My boyfriend, my mom, and my dad saw the person outside the door, so it was a little bit scary,” Avery recounted. “We just kind of stayed back away from the front door, and we were just kind of hoping it would solve itself. It was nice that the guy ended up leaving and the police came and made us feel more safe.” Following the incident, they quickly packed their things to leave, coinciding with her boyfriend Gavin Aurilia’s departure out of town.
The drama escalated when Aurilia mistakenly took Avery’s set of clubs instead of his own. This was due to both their bags looking identical since they had both played collegiately at Southern California. “I think it’s equally my dad and my boyfriend’s fault for not checking the bags,” Avery joked. It wasn’t until just before her tee time that they realized the mistake. “I sat in my hotel at 12:30 like, ‘I guess I am going to pull out from the U.S. Open after a pretty solid round,’ ” shared Avery, feeling disheartened by the thought.
A silver lining appeared in the form of former USC teammate, Gabi Ruffels, whose round did not meet the cut, but her clubs did Avery a favor. “My agent asked, ‘Do you want to use her clubs?’ “ Avery said. Given Ruffels was unlikely to make the cut, she graciously lent her clubs to Avery. Playing with the borrowed clubs, Avery shot a 73 in the second round, keeping her in the tournament.
Avery played through 17 holes that day until darkness halted play. By the next morning, Avery’s clubs were back, thanks to the efforts of Aurilia’s mother, who flew in from Phoenix. Despite United States Golf Association rules requiring her to finish the ongoing round with the borrowed clubs, Avery was relieved to have her set returned. “I can’t thank her enough,” Avery expressed, deeply appreciative of this supportive gesture.
Remarkably, Avery’s second-round score with Ruffels’ clubs was better than her third-round performance with her own set, scoring 76 amidst tough conditions. Her standout moment came close to a hole-in-one on the 189-yard, par-3 No. 6. Reflecting on her experience, Avery humorously mentioned considering keeping a few clubs from Ruffels. “Based on the score and just based on how I felt yesterday, I felt like Gabi’s clubs were honestly pretty good,” she said, although she was ultimately glad to have her clubs back in hand.