BELLEAIR, FL. – Lauryn Nguyen was a star for the Northwestern team that won the NCAA women’s golf championship in May and – based on her debut on the Ladies PGA Tour six months later – she’s ready for a career at the professional level.
Nguyen turned pro after graduating from NU after found the transition to the sport’s next level wasn’t easy.
“It was really a big adjustment. Financially I had to grab everything out of my pocket,’’ she said. “I didn’t have a place to stay or practice.’’
That problem was at least temporarily solved when she was given a sponsor’s exemption to The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. That’s the title of the LPGA’s last regular season tournament of 2025, the last stop before the CME Group Tour Championship – the $11 million climax to the season.
Nguyen won’t be in the CME event, but her play in The Annika was encouraging. The tournament helped her line up lodging with some Pelican members and the Pelican was a great place to practice for the last month. Plus, Chicago area’s only LPGA tour player — Elizabeth Szokol — was a former Northwestern player and is a Pelican member. Nguyen also found some sponsors, too.
“Everything I needed got taken care of, and more,’’ said Nguyen.
Then came the $3.8 million tournament. Nguyen gained experience in the pro-am, playing nine-holes with Caitlin Clark, the basketball star who spurred attendance at the golf event, and Nelly Korda, a three-time champion at The Annika. The tournament invited Nguyen’s coaching at teammates at Northwestern to come to the tournament and that contingent was joined by her family, from Seattle, Wash., for the tournament rounds.
Nguyen shot a 1-over-par 71 in the first round – the low score among the three sponsor exemption. Not only that, but her first 18 matched the scores turned in by Korda and Lexi Thompson, a long-time LPGA mainstay.
“It was kind of crazy,’’ said Nguyen. “You walk into the locker room and Nelly’s locker is two doors down. It’s kind of wild. You see the people on the range. It’s really cool being inside the ropes. I still learning from them, so it’s really a cool opportunity I was given. It’s really hard to put into words. What an event to make your debut at, and having it under Annika’s name is so, so special.’’
No matter where golf takes her, Nguyen has come a long way. Her parents came from Vietnam and raised their family in Seattle, Wash. They’ve formed the Duc Foundation to fund scholarships for Vietnamese students and Lauryn helps run the Nguyen Golf Academy that organizes youth programs.
The first round at The Annika wasn’t as good for the other two sponsor invitees as it was for Nguyen. Both amateurs Anne-Sterre den Dunnen, a senior at Wake Forest, and Kai Trump, an 18-year old high school senior from Florida and the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, were also playing in their first LPGA tournaments. Den Dunnen shot 72 and Trump 83.
Even though she was at the bottom of the 108-player field after the first round Trump, who will play collegiately at the University of Miami, wasn’t demoralized. Her gallery was one of the biggest throughout the day.
“I was definitely more nervous than I expected,’’ she said. “I hit a lot of good shots, just in the wrong spots. Being this was my first LPGA tournament, now I know how it goes. I learned a lot.’’