Both personal and professional history was made Sunday as California native Amari Avery clinched her first career victory at the 2026 IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa. Finishing off the tournament at 11-under, Avery secured a one-stroke victory over Spain’s Carla Bernat Escuder, and, in doing so, also became the first ever African American woman to win on the Epson Tour.
A four-week hiatus and a return to some of the driest conditions on the Epson Tour calendar was no small feat, but those were just a small blip in the host of hurdles California native Avery faced on her road to victory.
“It feels really sweet,” Avery said. “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.
“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.”
The 21-year-old is in her third season on the Epson Tour, and despite having multiple top-10 finishes in her career so far, had a bittersweet relationship when she played at Morongo Golf Course. In her only previous start as a pro in last year’s rendition of the IOA Championship, she missed the cut, which hit even harder considering Morongo was one of the many courses Avery grew up playing as a junior.
However, as she signed her scorecard Sunday, surrounded by friends and family, Avery finally got to actually bring home her first trophy.
“I’ve played here a bunch of times. And now I had so much support this year,” she said. “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.”
Avery was able to capitalize on only a two-under on Sunday, with her only birdies on No. 5 and No. 12, both par 4s. With Bernat Escuder, Sweden’s Anna Nordfors and Japan’s Nika Ito on Avery’s heels, a bogey-free round was enough to seal the win, finishing at 11-under par for the former USC Trojan. Nordfors and Ito finished two strokes back in T3, with Mexico’s Lauren Olivares rounding out the top 5 at 8-under.
Julia Gregg, who, like Avery, has already gained steady momentum only a handful of tournaments into the season, originally struggled in the valley in the first 36 holes, heading into Sunday at just even par. However, she shot up the leaderboard on Sunday with a 4-under 68 to finish T10 along with 11 other women, including rookie Gianna Clemente. One of the several previous champions in the field this week, Jillian Hollis, was not too far behind Gregg and Clemente; she capped off her weekend with a round of 69 for a T22 finish. Her score of 3-under at the IOA Championship ties her best for-par finish this season for the four-time Epson Tour winner.
Mariel Galdiano, who stood atop the Race for the Card points list prior to the IOA Championship, faced battles of her own at Morongo. The Hawaii native made the cut at the tournament for the first time in three years but failed to break 70, starting her campaign on the West Coast with a T54 finish (+2).
Sponsor invite Nicole Neale, who played collegiately in San Luis Obispo, missed the cut in her Epson Tour debut. Her fellow sponsor invite, Kathleen Scavo, finished T63 at 6-over after a quintuple-bogey on No. 3 on Sunday halted any momentum in her first start of the season.
