Jason Li is relentless. In just three years, he has shattered most of the records for men's golf at Carnegie Mellon University.
For his latest accolade, Li was named a finalist for the NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Golf.com. The Nicklaus Award, given by the Golf Coaches Association of America, recognizes the top players at the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and NJCAA levels. The previous two seasons he was a semifinalist for the honor.
The recipient of the award will be announced during the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, July 13-19. Other Division III finalists for the award include: Emmet Herb of St. Thomas (Minnesota), Drew Mathers of Huntingdon, Cade Osgood of Southwestern (Texas) and Rob Wuethrich of Illinois Wesleyan.
Li finished the abbreviated spring season with a team-best average round of 70.9 through 14 rounds. In 10 of his 14 rounds, Li shot par or lower. On two occasions, he carded a school record round of 66 and tied classmate Jason Folker, a senior in chemical engineering, for the lowest individual 54-hole total (204) at the Savannah Invitational, where they tied for second.
Li, a junior studying business administration with a minor in human-computer interaction, started playing golf with his parents when he was 5 years old.
"Instead of hiring a babysitter when they played, they bought a junior set [of clubs] for me and my brother to tag along. Over time, I just continued to practice and play," Li said. "It went from something I enjoyed doing with my family to something I loved doing. I am a pretty competitive person, and the constant pursuit to get better is something I love about golf."
During the season, Li spends more than 20 hours a week practicing and playing golf, either in a simulator at Skibo Gym on campus or at the Tartans' home course of Longue Vue Club in Verona. This summer, while he waits for his remote internship for Santander Bank in Boston to begin in July, Li is hitting the links.
Last summer, Li mixed work and fun as a business affairs intern for the PGA Tour, based in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
"That was an amazing experience to be able to interact with so many different people and see the business side of sports and to see how it's similar and different to what I've learned in the classroom," Li said.
As part of his internship he volunteered at one of the PGA's events that give back to the community. "Operation Shower" gives new moms of military families a baby shower who might not be able to have one.
"It gave me a newfound appreciation for the military," he said.
As a student-athlete, Li said time management is essential as is creating the right schedule for success.
"I've always tried to set myself up with a schedule that is morning heavy and to create large breaks as much as possible for practice," Li said. "It's really about staying focused on academics first. Keeping our academics at the front is pretty well ingrained into all of us during the school year by the Athletics office."
Coach Dan Rodgers said Li is a tremendous talent.
"On the golf course and in practice sessions, Jason is just so dedicated. He's just unmatched," Rodgers said. "Between balancing academics and athletics, he just works really hard at it."