Former All-American Lau Set to Make Olympic Golf Debut
6/27/2024 10:49:00 AM | Women's Golf, Olympics
• Paris Olympic Games (Golf)
• Olympics (Golf History)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Former University of Michigan All-American women's golfer and current Epson Tour professional Ashley Lau secured a spot (Tuesday, June 25) to compete for her native country of Malaysia at the XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris.
After a two-year qualifying period, Lau ranked 50th in the final women's Olympic Golf Ranking (Top 60), by the International Golf Federation, to earn her first Olympic Games selection. She will be joined in Paris by No. 1 Malaysian men's golfer Gavin Green, who will compete in his third consecutive Olympics.
Following the men's 72-hole event (Aug. 1-4), the women's field begins its 72-hole event at Le Golf National, Wednesday through Saturday (Aug. 7-10).
Three other Malaysians have played in the Olympic golf competition since its return in 2016 – Kelly Tan (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), Michelle Koh (Rio 2016), and Danny Chia (Rio 2016).
Lau, who is from Bintulu, is the first Sarawakian golfer to qualify for the Olympic Games. Overall, she is the 22nd athlete from Malaysia to qualify for the Olympics.
Lau is currently ranked 76th on the Epson Tour's Race For The Card standings after playing nine events, where the top 15 players at the end of the season will receive LPGA Tour cards for 2025. She ranked 56th after her 2023 season.
In her legendary Michigan career, Lau started all 43 of her career events, carrying a U-M record 73.24 scoring average. A four-time medalist -- a U-M record, Lau was a two-time Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American (2021, '22).
Helping U-M win its first-ever Big Ten title in 2022, Lau was named the program's first Big Ten Golfer of the Year. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, she added U-M record five Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors.
She helped U-M to three NCAA postseason appearances -- including back-to-back advancements to the NCAA Finals in 2021 and 2022. Before the 2020 postseason was canceled due to COVID-19, she earned an individual invitation to the NCAA regional as a freshman (2018-19).
The 2024 Paris Games marks the fifth appearance of golf at the Summer Olympics after editions in 1900 and 1904, and then 112 years later for the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games.
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