ELON, N.C. – With the CAA Championship in Southport, North Carolina, right around the corner,
Annie Wu and
Apple Ngamwong are hitting their strides.
Wu earned her first career collegiate win at the end of February at the Rivertowne Invitational, and a week later, her teammate Ngamwong finished runner-up at the River Landing Classic. The Phoenix also finished third and second in the events, respectively.
The Rivertowne Invitational has been kind to the Phoenix, as Ngamwong claimed the individual title in February 2023. However, an Elon player had yet to finish atop an individual leaderboard since that win, until Wu accomplished the same feat at Rivertowne a year later.
"It felt kind of unreal," Wu said of her first win. "Obviously, I've had this goal, but when you're in the moment, it's kind of like, 'This is it.'"
"We're really happy for her, and I think it's improved the team dynamics," Ngamwong said of Wu's win. "Winning a tournament is a big deal and it's not common or easy."
Ngamwong's runner-up the following weekend at the River Landing Classic was the Thai senior's highest placement since her aforementioned victory at the Rivertowne in 2023. Ngamwong said that a new strategy allowed her to focus more on her game.
"I did something different from the last tournament where I focused on my goals rather than my score," Ngamwong said. "I set my little goals for the tournament; I didn't want any three-putts, and I achieved that in two rounds."
Ngamwong's tournament began with a strong even-par 72. The way she did it was much rarer than the number suggests – she carded 18 straight pars.
"I was thinking, 'OK, this is kind of weird,'" Ngamwong laughed. "I didn't play bad or have to make up-and-downs all the time. I had birdie chances all the time but they just kept not going in and giving me pars."
"I was a bit disappointed they didn't fall for me, but I think it's kind of a cool round," she added.
"I'm really proud of Apple. She had been struggling a little bit, so it was awesome to see her get back into one," Wu said of Ngamwong's performance.
Wu was happy with her ability to stay focused during her final round at Rivertowne, like her teammate the following weekend. She credited a semi-accidental inability to check the live leaderboards during her final round to some of her focus.
"I knew I was definitely one of the top players, but I didn't know where I was [on the leaderboards]. I didn't check the live scoring," Wu said. "I was going to check, but we needed to download an app, and I just thought, 'I won't bother to put in the code and all that, so you know what, I'm just gonna do my best tomorrow and hope for the best.'"
Do her best she did, as she carded five birdies in a two-under round of 70 on the final day to earn the first item for her trophy case.
"I definitely feel like it worked out pretty well, but I feel like in the future, I would love to know where I'm at," Wu chuckled.
In recognition of their individual accomplishments, each earned a CAA Co-Golfer of the Week honor, awarded in back-to-back weeks.
"It's one of my goals to be the CAA Golfer of the Week," Wu said. "It shows that I'm able to compete with all the other incredible D-I golfers in the conference, and it makes me want to push myself more and understand my game better."
The team has one tournament remaining – the Ironwood Invitational, hosted by East Carolina – before the CAA Championship, and Wu believes the team will be firing on all cylinders.
"Coach Dockrill has got a really good setup for us going into our last tournaments," Wu said. "We're playing match play against each other for prizes, and it's a great opportunity for us to prepare. We need to keep the competitive momentum going."
The Phoenix travels to Greenville for the first round of the Ironwood on April 1.
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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