SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Xuan Khue Minh Doan is representing both college and more importantly country in the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship 2022 (WAAP) at the Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Thailand. The Wofford women's golf freshman continues her impressive start to her career by competing in this prestigious event, earning a spot in the field by way of her World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
 
The competition features the top-ranked women's golf amateurs from countries within the Asia-Pacific region, falling under the umbrella of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. Each nation holds a different number of representatives, and one must be among the top-ranked golfers in her country to earn a spot in the field. Doan's home country of Vietnam features just one invitation to the tournament, and the Hanoi native is her country's lone representative as the nation's top-ranked women's amateur.
 
"I'm going to get to compete with all the best play in Asia and also coming from Australia," said Doan of how special the invitation is for her. "I can learn and make friends, get new experiences. And it's my first time, so I'm not going to put a big pressure on myself to perform really well, but I'm going to do my best of course. And hopefully everything turns out good."
 
WAGR utilizes a complex formula to rank the players, and the rankings feature 2,913 individuals across the globe. Doan's ranking entering the competition is 939, with the freshman falling in the top third of all women's amateur golfers in the world.
 
"Maisie (Doan) has a strong ability to stay in the present moment when she is competing. That will serve her well on this big stage," said Wofford women's golf head coach Angie Ridgeway. "The competition will be stacked, as it's one of the biggest amateur events in the world. I'm really proud that she has this opportunity."
 
Doan enters this tournament following an impressive start to her collegiate career at Wofford. The freshman made her debut in the Golfweek Fall Challenge, tying for 20^th to immediately claim her first-career top-20. She has competed in four events this fall, finishing in the top 20 in three of the four, with the lone exception being a 30^th-place result. In her last outing, Doan collected her first-career top 10 by placing ninth in Wofford's home event, the Terrier Intercollegiate. That performance earned Doan SoCon Player of the Week honors, the first selection of her career and for the Terriers this season.
 
"It's a booster coming from this week and a good performance, building up to that week," said Doan on how her collegiate successes may aid her in the WAAP. "I am really excited to be there, and I think with all the experience, all the tournaments, all the practices with the team and my results, I think I'm going to have a good tournament hopefully."
 
The WAAP is a four-day event that began today with a cut after the second round. The final round is Sunday, Nov. 6. The field features 86 players on the par-72 course at the Siam Country Club in Thailand. The winner earns invitations to play in two major championships – the AIG Women's Open and Amundi Evian Championship – alongside the Hana Financial Group Championship and an exemption into the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship.
 
Upon the conclusion of the event, Doan will return to Spartanburg and the Terriers with her fall slate closed as well to set her sights on further success with Wofford in the spring.