Updated as of April 17, 2022 at 11:16 p.m. to include additional photos.
SOUTHPORT, NC – The Elon University women’s golf team overcame a slow start in the final round of the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Golf Championship to finish in fourth place in the team competition.
Elon shot a final round score of 302 and finished the tournament with a three-round score of 913. While Elon struggled early in the final round, the team rallied on the back nine to hold on to fourth place.
“The girls really showed a lot of fortitude,” head coach Chris Dockrill said. “They hung in there and played really well on the back nine.”
This is the second consecutive season Elon has finished fourth in the team competition at the CAA Championship. After a strong start to the season, Dockrill believed Elon had a strong chance to contend in this year’s tournament, but said the team struggled down the stretch and could not recover in time to play its best golf in the season’s final tournament.
“We came here to win and things just didn’t turn out for us,” Dockrill said. “You see the frustration levels and it’s so hard to flip things around on a dime. They’re very talented, they’ve got good hearts, but the bottom line is we just never got those low scores.”
Junior Svarin Yuenyong was Elon’s highest finishing individual, as she posted a final round 74 to finish tied for ninth. Yuenyong made two birdies and 12 pars to earn her first top ten and best finish of the season.
Yuenyong entered the tournament in the number five position for Elon. Dockrill said Elon’s number four and five players have struggled in recent years but he was impressed with the improvements from the team’s number four and five players this season.
“She’s really happy that she played well,” Dockrill said. “It’s good for her confidence.”
Junior and first round co-leader Annabelle Ackroyd shot a final round 76 to finish in a tie for 11th. Ackroyd made two bogeys and a double bogey on her first three holes, but played the remaining 15 holes in even par to earn her best finish since October’s Chris Banister Classic.
Sophomore Lotte Fox posted a final round 78 to finish in a tie for 17th. Fox shot a team-best 74 in the second round, but got off to a slow start Sunday, making four bogeys and a double bogey in her first six holes. However, similar to Ackroyd, she played her last 12 holes in even par to earn her sixth top 20 finish in seven starts this season.
In her last round of college golf, graduate student Adel Vadkerti shot her best round of the week, posting a 74 to finish 23rd. Dockrill said he is proud of Vadkerti for overcoming a wrist injury throughout the season.
“She’s been great for the program and it’s time for another chapter in her life,” Dockrill said. “We’re just fortunate she was able to play because it didn’t look good for a while, but she hung in there and played well the last couple days.”
Sophomore Apple Ngamwong teed off first for Elon on Sunday and posted a 78. She birdied the third hole but made a triple bogey on the fifth on her way to a 30th place finish.
College of Charleston won the team competition with a total score of 884, 29 shots ahead of Elon. Charleston sophomore Vikroria Hund won the individual tournament with a final score of 216.