Five months from its inaugural season, Seattle Pacific University’s women’s golf program is finding solid footing in committed recruits and practice contracts.
Athletic Director Dan Lepse shared insight into their progress in developing the team’s indoor practice facility in Royal Brougham Pavilion. The department previously decided to hold off on construction until a head coach had been found, and with Head Coach Tyler Copp now in the position, design and construction are underway.
“I paid some visits to other facilities, and they [were] all different [so] I thought it was more prudent to wait until we had a head coach and let them identify what they want to have,” Lepse said. “Tyler came in and had different ideas of what we initially thought. In fact, we are now in the process where we’re going to order the equipment, so it was good to wait on that.”
Copp added that there is a finalized floor plan design for the indoor facility
“It will consist of a simulator, a hitting station and a large putting green. We have two companies competing over a bid for the putting green, including a local company from Seattle that specializes in putting green installations. Mid-July is our expected time of completion!” Copp said.
However, golf is primarily an outdoor sport, so the team will need to practice on actual courses as much as the indoor facility on campus. Thankfully, Copp has already ensured the team has a practice facility away from Royal Brougham.
“We are very fortunate to announce a partnership with West Seattle Golf Course, one of Seattle’s top public courses, in return for reduced green fee costs,” Copp said. “We will give back to the women’s club at West Seattle and assist the community of golfers they have. It’s important in our program to give back when we can!”
Progress on the recruitment side is promising as well. Copp is thrilled with the results of recruitment so far and is excited to field a full team in the coming months.
“We have [three] commits thus far— [Sara Rhodes from Pacific Lutheran University, Natalie Eklund from W.F. West High School and Brigitte Fenton from Whitworth University] are incredible young ladies who fit our university’s mission,” Copp said. “We are in the mix with a fair share of transfer and high school players who will make a decision [soon]. We plan on having five to six players ready to compete by the fall season.”
Compliance Manager Kali Barber works within the athletics department to ensure all sports programs meet the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s guidelines and requirements.
“I have to make sure that [everyone] falls under the NCAA manual, such as making sure that [we] have the correct number of golfers, [which] in women’s golf [is] at least five,” Barber said. “The magic number we set for Tyler was five to six girls in case somebody gets sick. He is allowed to compete in the fall and the spring season, but per GNAC rules, a heavy amount of those conference tournaments will be in the spring season.”
Barber’s primary involvement with the program is checking the eligibility of all student-athletes before they can officially join it.
“The coaches need to bring by the transcripts for the student-athletes that are coming. They have to be in the eligibility center for the NCAA or the transfer portal if they’re a transfer student-athlete,” Barber said. “I have to look at their transcripts and make sure they are academically eligible, check how many seasons they’ve used, [whether] they’ve transferred, [then] we can move forward in giving them a scholarship offer or things like that.”
Logistical planning for the inaugural season is nearly finished as well.
“Our fall season schedule is close to completion. We have four local events (Washington, Oregon and Canada) in the early months, and currently looking for a fifth event,” Copp said. “These events will really prepare us for our spring championship season.”
Once all is completed and set for competition, the women’s golf program will finally experience its debut season at SPU.
“I’m most looking forward to instilling a joy to compete and get better, and most importantly creating shared experiences as a program as we launch,” Copp said.
