ELON – The Elon women's golf team will start its 2025 fall slate next week by hosting the annual Elon Invitational at Alamance Country Club in Burlington. The two-day, 54-hole tournament begins Monday with 36 holes of action, followed by the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Each day gets underway with an 8:30 a.m. ET shotgun start.
TOURNAMENT INFO
- Dates: Sept. 15-16, 2025
- Format: 54 holes (36-18, Monday-Tuesday); 5-count-4
- Location: Burlington, North Carolina | Alamance Country Club
- Course Info: Par 71 | 6,026 Yards
- Live Scoring: Clippd
OFF THE TEE
1.
Ashley Lafontaine
2.
Annie Wu
3.
Lilli Downer
4.
Emma Hansen
5.
Kelly Zhao
Individuals:
Sakura Kawakami,
Lara Rieke
THE FIELD (14)
Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Elon, Gardner-Webb, James Madison, Longwood, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Presbyterian, Radford, USC Upstate, William & Mary, Winthrop, Wofford
HOUSE RULES
Elon looks to flip the script at its home tournament after finishing runner-up each of the past two years. The Phoenix last won the Elon Invitational title in fall 2022 when current senior
Ashley Lafontaine – then a freshman – earned individual medalist honors with a 2-under 211 in just her second collegiate event. Lafontaine has been dominant at the Elon Invitational throughout her career, following up her 2022 individual title with T5 and T3 finishes in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
THE GANG'S (ALMOST) ALL HERE
The Phoenix will see seven of its eight golfers play in the season-opening event, including a pair of freshmen in
Lilli Downer – who is slotted as the team's No. 2 golfer in the lineup – and
Lara Rieke, who will play as one of two individuals outside of the Elon lineup. Elon's five returners have played in at least one Elon Invitational previously, led by three apiece from Lafontaine and fellow senior
Annie Wu, who has placed T19 (2022, 2024) and T26 (2023).
AROUND THE WORLD
Seven of the eight golfers on Elon's roster are originally from outside of the United States, with sophomore
Garland Gould (Raleigh) being the lone American on the squad. The seven international golfers on the roster include four Canadians – Downer (Toronto, Ontario),
Emma Hansen (Burlington, Ontario), Lafontaine (Ottawa, Ontario) and
Kelly Zhao (Richmond Hill, Ontario) – one German (Rieke; Düsseldorf, Germany), one New Zealander (
Sakura Kawakami; Rotorua, New Zealand) and one Taiwanese (Wu; Taichung, Taiwan).
GUIDING HANDS
Chris Dockrill – a 2014 Elon Sports Hall of Fame inductee and All-American for the Phoenix men's golf program – enters his 25th season at the helm of the Elon women's golf program and will be joined by first-year assistant coach
LoraLie Cowart, who joined the Phoenix this past offseason following a decorated collegiate career at both Georgia and Georgia Southern.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Elon women's golf, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonGolf) and Instagram (ElonWGolf).
