Chris Dockrill enters his 24th season as Elon's head women's golf coach in 2023-24 and has guided the Phoenix program to much success.
Dockrill, a two-time league coach of the year (2000 Big South Conference, 2007 Southern Conference), has seen 21 different players earn All-America Scholar honors and Elon has been represented on those teams a total of 29 times. Of those, the Phoenix squad placed a program-record four players on both the 2013 and 2014 WGCA All-America Scholars list.
In Elon's eight seasons as part of the CAA, Dockrill has guided the Phoenix to seven tournament titles and 40 top-five finishes in 76 total tournaments.
Last season, the Phoenix competed in nine tournaments during the regular season with nine Top-10 finishes and eight Top-5 finishes. The team won the Terrier Intercollegiate with a 30-over par 894 as Annabelle Ackroyd paced Elon with a 2-over par. Elon also shared the team title at the Advance Golf Partners Classic with a 897 (+33) as Annie Wu finished tied for runner-up with a 1-over par 217 en route to CAA Gofler of the Week honors on Feb. 14. Elon also finished tied for second out of 15 teams at the Elon Invitational, was third out of 17 at the Red Bandanna Intercollegiate and posted a runner-up finish in the field out of 11 teams at the River Landing Classic. Apple Ngamwong had her best career finish as Elon’s top golfer at the CAA Championship shooting a 14-over par 230 to finish in a tie for seventh place. Elon finished fifth in the team standings and combined for a 937 (+73). Annie Wu was named to the All-CAA Second Team on May 3.
Elon had a strong 2022-23 season that included a pair of team victories and a stellar effort at the CAA Championship. The Phoenix kicked off the season with a playoff victory at the William & Mary Fall Invitational on Sept. 12-13. In its next tournament, the maroon and gold won again as a team, taking the title at the Third Annual Elon Invitational at Alamance Country Club on Sept. 19-20 with a 54-hole score of 850. Freshman Ashley Lafontaine won her first career title in her second start and helped Elon win the team title with Annabelle Ackroyd, Apple Ngamwong, Svarin Yuenyong and Lotte Fox, the same group that won the William & Mary Fall Invitational. Elon followed up the two victories with a runner-up finish at the Boston College Intercollegiate on Sept. 26-27 and closed the fall season with a fifth-place result at the Edisto Island Invitational on Oct. 9-11. Lafontaine and Ackroyd both earned CAA Women's Golfer of the Week honors during the fall sesaon. Ngamwong started the spring season by winning her second career tournament at the RiverTowne Invitational on Feb. 26-28 and was selected as the CAA Women's Golfer of the Week on March 1 for the performance. Ackroyd finished alone in second place at the Low Country Intercollegiate on March 17-19 as Elon placed third in the 19-team field. At the CAA Championship, the Phoenix posted the low round of the final day with a 4-over par 282 to finish alone in third, Elon's best finish at the event since 2015.
The 2021-22 season saw the maroon and gold finish second out of eight teams at the Second Annual Elon Invitational at Alamance Country Club on Sept. 20-21. Annabelle Ackroyd was the top finisher for the team, taking third place with a four-over par 217. The group of Ackroyd, Lotte Fox, Adel Vadkerti, Andrea Asmundsdottir and Apple Ngamwong then secured another trophy for the trophy case as the group won the 2021 Aggie Invitational, hosted by North Carolina A&T at Bryan Park on Oct. 4-5. The Phoenix was also runners-up at Jacksonville State's Chris Banister Classic on Oct. 10-12 and at Charleston Southern's RiverTowne Invitational on Feb. 28 - March 1. Ngamwong was selected as the CAA Co-Women's Golfer of the Week on Oct. 13 after earning co-medalist honors at the Chris Banister Classic with a two-under par 214. Elon capped off its year at the 2022 CAA Championship, held at the Reserve Club at St. James in Southport, N.C. on April I 15-17. The Phoenix took fourth place in the field of seven, combining for a 49-over par 913.
Elon hosted the inaugural Elon Invitational on Sept. 23-24 during the 2019-20 season, finishing third out of 10 teams at Alamance Country Club. Adel Vadkerti was the top finisher for the Phoenix, tying for sixth overall with an even 213. Vadkerti also led the team at the Chris Banister Classic on Oct. 7-8, tying for third with a plus-two 218 as the maroon and gold finished fifth. In the spring, Emily Nash earned a share of the Kiawah Island Classic Individual Tournament with a seven-over par 223.
After the remainder of the 2019-20 season was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Phoenix returned with an abbreviated schedule in the spring of 2021. With a field of 41 teams at the Kiawah Island Classic, newcomer Apple Ngamwong paced the team and was the CAA's top individual finisher with an even 216, good for fourth overall. The effort helped the Phoenix finish tied for 10th and earned the freshman CAA Women's Golfer of the Week honors. Ngamwong also had a strong outing at Wofford's Low Country Intercollegiate as she shot a one-under 143 to secure a third-place finish, and Elon combined for a 17-over 593 to also finish third as a team. Next at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate, Adel Vadkerti tied for second with a 12-over 228. Elon also earned the runner-up trophy as Ngamwong contributed a 13-over 229 to come in fourth and Lotte Fox tied for eighth with a 16-over 232. The team then concluded the year at the CAA Championship, held at the Grandover Resort's East Course, and placed fourth in the team standings. Ngamwong and Vadkerti were named to the All-CAA First and Second Teams, respectively. The Phoenix also had three WGCA All-American Scholars in Fox, Sophia Mancuso and Svarin Yuenyong.
The Phoenix had a strong finish to the 2018-19 season. After finishing 19th out of 49 teams at the Kiawah Island Classic, the largest collegiate tournament in the country, Elon placed 8th in a field of 16 teams at Charleston Southern's Edisto Island Invitational. The team then won the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate and Adel Vadkerti was the individual champion after shooting an even 144. Elon then finished fifth out of eight teams at the CAA Championship as Vadkerti and Aurelia Hamm tied for sixth with a 229 (+13). Vadkerti picked up All-CAA Second Team honors and Haley Bookholdt was named a WGCA All-American Scholar.
In 2017-18, Elon finished fifth out of 16 teams at the Boston College Intercollegiate as Heather Munro placed second with a two-over par 218. Munro then tied for seventh with a four-under 212 at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate. In the spring, a career-low round of 67 from Aurelia Hamm helped the Phoenix to a third-place finish at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate. Hamm captured her first career individual tournament title as she carded a four-under par 140. The Phoenix finished fourth out of eight teams at the CAA Championship as Munro carded a 226 (+10) to tie for fourth and was selected to the All-Tournament team. She added All-CAA Second Team honors and was joined on the WGCA All-American Scholars list by Hilda Kristjansdottir and Adel Vadkerti. Additionally, Katherine Reilly qualified to compete in the 2018 U.S. Women's Amateur.
During the 2016-17 campaign, the Phoenix posted two top-five finishes in nine events. Following the season both Kelsey Badmaev and Heather Munro garnered first-team All-CAA honors, while Munro was also named to the league's all-academic team.
In 2015-16, Elon finished in the top-five as a team in nine of the 10 total tournaments. Badmaev and Munro earned first-team All-CAA honors and Emily Brooks earned a spot on the All-Academic team. The Phoenix also won two tournament titles at the MSU Spring Citrus Challenge and the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate.
During the 2014-2015 campaign, Elon set a single-season program record of three tournament titles, Heather Munro became the first Phoenix to earn rookie of the year honors and three players made the all-conference teams.
In the 11 seasons that Elon was a member of the Southern Conference, Dockrill's players collected all-conference accolades 12 times and three players earned SoCon All-Freshman distinction.
In that same span, the team won 12 tournament titles and had 12 individual medalists while consistently playing against some of the best competition in the nation.
As an NCAA Division I program, Elon has collected 12 top-five finishes in the league tournament in 16 seasons.
Prior to 1999-2000, Dockrill served two years as an assistant under head coach Bill Morningstar.
A 1986 graduate of Elon, Dockrill was both an All-American and an Academic All-American for Morningstar. He played in the Canadian Amateurs from 1982-83. Dockrill started his heralded golf career as the National 16 & under Canadian Champion in 1979.
In 2014, Dockrill was selected to the Elon Sports Hall of Fame.
Dockrill is married to the former Theresa Brosnan of Rockville, Md., and they have two daughters, Heather and Claire, and a son, Jack.
