BANDON, OREGON | In a game that’s all about mental toughness and fortitude, perhaps all golfers should look to Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang as a model. Just call her Pinky. It doesn’t matter if she makes a birdie putt, taps in for par or three putts for bogey, Pinky always has a smile on her face and pep in her step.
“For me, being able to play golf is already a gift,” Pinky said. “Being here [at the U.S. Women’s Amateur] is another great gift. I’m just happy to be playing golf.”
Pinky is more than just happy, she’s really good. She earned the 2025 Women’s Elite Amateur Cup for her performance in five top-tier tournaments, including a victory at the Southwestern Amateur and co-medalist honors at both the North & South Women’s Amateur and Women’s Western Amateur. The award earned her an exemption into her first U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she qualified for match play after shooting 3-under in stroke-play qualifying on Monday and Tuesday at Bandon Dunes. On Wednesday, she beat Momo Sugiyama of Australia, 4 and 3, in the round of 64.
But maybe more than her results, Pinky enjoyed walking the gorgeous grounds of Bandon Dunes and getting to know her playing partners.
“I get to talk to them after the round and when I’m playing and just make new friends,” she said. “It’s fun.”
Born and raised in Thailand, Pinky received her nickname from her mom.
“Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang is too long, maybe Pinky is easier,” she explained.
Pinky started playing golf at 5 years old and immediately fell in love with the game. Last year, she enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. At first, it was difficult to adjust to life in the United States.
“It’s a lot of adjusting to culture and food,” she said. “I’m a very picky eater.”
While Pinky could no longer eat curry for breakfast as much as she wanted to, she says her new teammates at Charlotte helped her adjust. New head coach C.C. McMahan distinctly remembers a trip the team took to Pinehurst before last year’s fall season. She says on the first night they were playing a rated-PG version of the party game Cards Against Humanity and were about to transition to the card game Uno. Pinky was against the idea.
“She was like, ‘Wait, but this is so much fun. I’m getting to know y’all,’” McMahan recalled. “It was just funny because everybody wanted to get into more of a competitive game but she wanted to keep playing the games where we’re all laughing together.”
“Pinky wants to play well but she also wants the other people in her group to play well. She gets a lot of joy from the camaraderie she gets in her pairings and getting to know those players.” – C.C. McMahan
Pinky tore up college golf as a freshman, finishing the 2024-25 season with two victories and 10 top-10s in 11 starts. She also set Charlotte’s single-season stroke average record at 71.07. She’s the first Charlotte 49er to play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur since Jennifer Rosenberg in 2022.
For someone so talented at golf, Pinky is truly unique, McMahan said.
“She really plays golf for the joy of the game,” she said. “You look at some of the greats of our sport like Tiger, he did it for the competition. He wanted to beat everybody else. Pinky wants to play well but she also wants the other people in her group to play well. She gets a lot of joy from the camaraderie she gets in her pairings and getting to know those players.”
That joy was on full display at Bandon Dunes. She laughed with Felisa Sajulga on Monday when they almost played each other’s golf balls. On Tuesday, she enthusiastically applauded Lyla Louderbaugh when Louderbaugh holed out for eagle on No. 17.
Pinky’s happiness is simply infectious.
“I saw her skipping off the tee box yesterday,” said Lindsay Kuhle, Louderbaugh’s head coach at the University of Kansas. “You never see that. She’s so cute.”
Even when Pinky made mistakes, she didn’t let them get to her. On Tuesday, Pinky started her round on No. 10 and made back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17, dropping her to even par and close to the cut line. After her bogey on 17, she turned to the scorekeeper, smiled, and said, “I made a 5, thank you for being out here.”
“It’s surprising but I just don’t really care that much,” Pinky said. “I know I made a bogey but there’s nothing I can do but move on and be positive. Golf is already a gift so it’s always good.”
After her 1-over par opening nine, Pinky promptly birdied Nos. 1 and 2 by making lengthy putts. She bogeyed No. 7 but birdied Nos. 8 and 9 to comfortably make match play. She was smiling the whole time.
McMahan believes the sky is the limit for Pinky’s golf game, but Pinky isn’t sure she wants to pursue professional golf. For a long time, her dream has been to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
“I want to get rich,” Pinky said. “I have a friend back in Thailand and the path to the house is not so smooth. I want to fix that.”
But because of her love for golf, Pinky won’t rule out a professional career. McMahan believes Pinky will be successful no matter what she does.
“No matter what she puts her mind to, we hope it’s professional golf because she has an amazing talent and she can make a huge impact on the ladies’ golf tours and beyond,” McMahan said. “But even if she goes to the corporate world she’s going to be a firecracker.”