Driven by her passion for golf, FAU’s two-time Female Athlete of the Year feels like she’s at the top of her game.
Recent graduate and Thailand native Praewnapa Phol-Uayporn has been golfing since she was 8 years old. She says golf is her passion and that she wants to golf for a living. Head women’s golf coach Joan Joyce says she has no doubt Phol-Uayporn will do just that.
“It’s fun for me to work with her,” says Joyce, who’s been coaching at FAU for 15 years. “[Phol-Uayporn] has the talent to go on after.”
The studio art and graphic design major finished with three out of 10 tournament wins this year and four out of 10 tournament wins last year. Because of her tournament wins and her consistency in finishing among the top five golfers in every tournament she played in, Phol-Uayporn was chosen as FAU’s Female Athlete of the Year for both 2008 and 2009. She was selected out of more than 175 female student athletes.
Phol-Uayporn moved from Thailand to Florida to go to college and says golf wasn’t her only obstacle.
“Because I wasn’t yet fluent in English, I would take all my notes from classes in Thai, translate them and then study from my translation,” she says.
Phol-Uayporn says the best memories of her time at FAU are working with her teammates and coaches and being part of a great, supportive team.
“The hardest part of leaving FAU was leaving my teammates and coaches who supported me,” she explains.
Phol-Uayporn is aware of the fierce competition she will face in her sport.
“I know I have to work hard; there are lots of people with the same dream,” she says.
Currently, Phol-Uayporn can be found golfing in the Duramed FUTURES Tour. This is a tour designed to be the step between college golf and the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Phol-Uayporn joined the tour after qualifying in November 2008.
Phol-Uayporn’s career goal is to play in the LPGA tour starting next year. To qualify, she will need to place in the top 30 in one of two qualifying tournaments held in September.
The top 30 golfers from each tournament then go on to play in the final qualifying tournament held by the LPGA in Daytona Beach this December.
“I know what my goal is, and I have to keep working toward it.”
