Women's golf opens spring with double victories

The Augustana women’s golf team returned every player but one this season, including a repeat NSIC Golfer of the Year and several NSIC golfer-of-the-weeks. Three tournaments into the Vikings’ spring season, their skills have shown on the course. 

The Vikings added to their three fall wins with consecutive victories in California and Missouri to begin their spring season.

“This season we have a strong returning lineup which is a huge strength and the atmosphere of our team is also a huge strength this year,” sophomore Lanie Veenendall said. “We are all best friends, and with four of our girls graduating this spring, we are all really pushing ourselves and each other so we can accomplish our goals.” 

Most recently, the Vikings finished second out of nine teams in the two-day Newman Invitational in Newton, Kansas, with a combined score of 619 on April 1-2. In total, the team recorded 103 pars and 19 birdies. 

Fifth-year Molly Stevens and senior Lauren Tims both earned a spot in the top 10. Stevens scored a third-place finish with a stroke count of 151 through two rounds, and Tims came home in a tie for eighth place after tallying 155. 

The Vikings competed in the Missouri Western State University Holiday Inn Express Classic tournament in St. Joseph, Missouri, on March 25-26. The tournament was shortened to one round due to weather conditions on March 26. 

Despite those conditions, the Vikings brought home first place, shooting 300 and 12-over-par. Individually, Tims shot 1-over-par to finish third with a round of 73, and Veenendall placed fourth with 74.

Augustana started off its spring season with a first-place finish out of eight total teams and a 51-over-par in its Spring Fling tournament at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, California, on March 14-15. 

“It is always difficult coming from practicing indoors for months in the winter to a full blown tournament in California, but luckily we were able to go a few days early,” Stevens said. “But there is still nerves and rust on the first competitive day of the spring season.”

The Vikings took first on the leaderboard after Stevens finished 4-over-par and recorded rounds of 77 and 71. Stevens tallied 148 strokes throughout the two-day tournament.

Junior Shannon McCormick recorded rounds of 85 and 74, totaling a score of 159, and she shot 22 pars throughout the tournament, the fourth-most in the field.

With 160 strokes each, Veenendall and junior Masy Mock tied for 19th. Tims finished in 25th after scoring rounds of 86 and 77.

Stevens’ first-place finish was her first of the season while leading the NSIC in stroke average. At the tournament, she reigned at the top in par-3 and par-4 averages, shooting 3.13 and 4.10 shots per hole, respectively.

“I don’t think any of us were thrilled with our performance on the first day but as a team we were able to persevere through those struggles and improve significantly to jump the leaderboard on the second day,” Stevens said. “I am very proud of how our team performed and am excited for the rest of the season.”

2023-2024 will be Stevens’ final season. She said she will be going into this spring without giving any weight to expectations. 

“I am mostly just looking forward to having fun with my teammates and best friends for the next few months,” Stevens said. “As a team, we perform the best without any expectations and when we're just having fun competing and playing golf.”

During the fall season, Augustana had three first-place victories: the Central Region Fall Preview with 601 strokes, the Mustang Invite with 589 shots and the University of Sioux Falls Invite with 593 total strokes.

With a strong start to the spring season, the team’s main goal is to make it to nationals in May. 

“The girls just know that it’s time and we want to make it all the way to nationals,” head coach Coralee Jorgensen said. “We don’t want to just go to nationals and play. We want to be contenders and we have the team, the skills and we should be contenders. It's go time. It’s fun time.”

Currently, the team is ranked fifth in the NCAA’s Division II central region. The Vikings will next compete in the Augustana Spring Invite on April 8-9 at Elmwood Golf Course in Sioux Falls.

“We know we belong at the highest level and are able to compete with the best,” Stevens said. “That makes us so much stronger.”