Former USC standout Amari Avery had a blazing -8 64 in the second round of the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship on the Epson Tour, bringing her back into contention heading into the weekend.
Avery struggled in the first round, shooting +2 74, falling 10 strokes off the pace of leader Gina Kim. Avery only hit 12 greens and combined that with a relatively poor putting performance, needing 31 putts.
The improvement in round two was obvious. Avery hit 15 greens and brought her number of putts way down to only 24. She didn’t drop any shots and had four birdies in a row on her front nine to get the momentum building.
Despite having no wins yet on the Epson Tour, Avery is one of its biggest names dating back to her junior days when she appeared in the Netflix documentary The Short Game and the HBO documentary Trophy Kids. In her second year on the tour, she has been consistent, making 8/10 cuts and finishing in the top five three times. She currently ranks No. 14 in the Race for the Card standings.
Avery still sits five back of leader Gina Kim, who had a great round going Friday before bogeys on her final two holes. She still shot -3 while hitting 13/14 fairways and 14/18 greens. Kim has the winning experience, with two Epson Tour titles already in 2025.
Julia Gregg sits in second place at -8 after a second round 66. The former Arkansas Razorback has not finished better than T10 on the Epson Tour, but had a phenomenal -5 front nine which included an eagle on the par 5 fourth hole.
The third round of the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship kicks off Saturday.
