Women’s golf wins eighth straight NSIC Championship

For the eighth consecutive year, women’s golf has won the NSIC Championship.

The schedule of this year’s meet was different than previous years. The conference was held in Morton, Minn., April 21-23.

“It used to be two days in the fall and two days in the spring,” head coach Peggy Kirby said.

This year, the entire tournament was played over a three-day period.

“That was a little bit of an adjustment for us,” junior Kali Trautman said about the  schedule. “It’s a little bit harder. Most of our tournaments are usually two days.”

Trautman finished first to win her second straight individual title.

Going into the tournament, Kirby said she was confident in her team, as Augustana has won the conference the past seven years.

“There really wasn’t any pressure,” Kirby said. “It’s more, if we compete at our best, we should come out on top.”

While still being grateful for the conference championship, the team is looking forward to hosting the regional tournament which will take place at the Minnehaha Country Club Monday-Wednesday.

“I am really excited that we are playing at Minnehaha,” freshman Hannah Hankinson said. “I think it will be great for regionals because it’s challenging.”

One of the advantages of hosting the regional tournament is the team will not have to travel.

“It’ll be nice to be at home for regionals and have other teams come up to Sioux Falls,” Hankinson said. “I’m excited because I really enjoy the course.”

Kirby agrees with Hankinson and also looks forward to the advantage of playing on a course the team is familiar with.

“It’s a bonus to be able to stay home,” Kirby said. “It’s also great that the students know the golf course a little bit. Hopefully we’ll have some success at Minnehaha.”

Looking ahead to the meet, Kirby hopes her team will keep success in mind and use the home meet as motivation to push ahead.

“We’re going to go into that regional championship with a lot of confidence,” Kirby said.

Trautman is also feeling good. The team will have to place in the top three out of the competing 12 teams to reach nationals.

“We’ve won the regional the past two years,” Trautman said. “We feel very hopeful and positive we will be in the top three.”