How the time has passed.
The Seattle Pacific University women’s golf team is heading to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Monday, April 21, and Tuesday, April 22, at the CDA Resort Golf Course in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Seattle Pacific will compete against Montana State University Billings, Northwest Nazarene University, Simon Fraser University, Saint Martin’s University and Western Washington University.
This is the Falcons’ first-ever run at the conference championship as they wrap up their inaugural season.
How they got here:
The Falcons’ first match was against George Fox University on Sept. 14, 2024. Although George Fox won with 297 points against SPU’s 326, Seattle Pacific celebrated a team-best score of 79 from junior Brigitte Fenton, who joined the Falcons after two seasons at Whitworth University.
Seattle Pacific would place in the top 10 during its next two matches, the Saint Martin’s Grisham Memorial Shootout on Sept. 21, 2024, and the Simon Fraser True North Classic on Sept. 24, 2024. The Falcons placed 10th at the Grisham Memorial and tied for eighth at the True North Classic, where SPU also celebrated a team-best single-round score of 71, shot by sophomore Zoe Garcia.
The fall session ended on a high, with SPU shooting a new team-best score of 316 against Saint Martin’s University on Oct. 12. The Falcons’ final tournament before the winter hiatus was the Flagler Fall Slam on Oct. 22, where they placed 11th.
Head coach Tyler Copp said the young team has taken great leaps from the fall session to spring.
“We had growing pains in the fall season, having seven brand new players on campus,” Copp said. “A lot of them were unfamiliar with each other, so building our team chemistry and playing tough courses in the fall contributed to some of our results, [but] our growth has been exponential from our first event against George Fox in the fall until now. Our expectations might be getting a bit higher now that we’re playing better.”
The Falcons’ spring session was a time of constant progression. Seattle Pacific returned to action at the Spring Invite on Feb. 3, finishing 16th, where freshman Anika Schau shot a career-best 78.
Wrapping up the regular season, SPU placed ninth at the Southern Colorado Classic on March 24, their second top-10 finish in as many weeks after a seventh-place finish at the Southwest Minnesota State University Classic on March 18.
Fenton, an exercise science major, has hopeful expectations for the GNAC tournament; however, she stresses that the team is more concerned about a greater goal.
“Perspective is key, and just knowing this is our first year of the program, that we can’t have too many high expectations,” Fenton said. “I do think a few of us have good chances at going low at GNACs, and we should all have high goals for ourselves, but also know our focus should be having fun as a team and representing our school.”
Prepping for competition:
Copp is excited to see his team in the culminating match of their inaugural season, having witnessed them grow from September until now.
“It’s good timing for us because we’ve been playing some really good golf over the past couple of months,” Copp said. “We shot our best team score that we’ve had all year, 312, in round one in Colorado, and that happened leading into GNACs, so we’re going to have a confident lineup headed to Coeur d’Alene.”
Junior Sarah Rhodes, an early childhood education major, said the team is more competitive than ever. The Falcons are only allowed to enter a total of five golfers in the GNAC tournament, so the team has been working with and against each other to decide which five of the team’s seven will compete.
“We’ve been working on qualifiers every weekend,” Rhodes said. “We can only take five to GNACs, so we’re competing against [each other] and working very hard during the week individually, as well as a team, to prepare ourselves. It’s been very competitive, especially with this team of seven girls. We are always a couple strokes right behind or right in front of one another, or even tied with one another.”
For all his confidence, Copp remains wary of the Falcons’ competition.
“We’ve seen four of the five other GNAC schools at tournaments throughout the year, [so] we’re pretty familiar with those teams,” Copp said. “In terms of where we [could] place at GNACs, I feel like we could [at least] finish in the middle of the conference, but we do have two high-level teams in our conference, Simon Fraser and Western Washington. Simon Fraser is already a lock for NCAA Regionals, and Western Washington is right on the bubble there, so we know it’s going to be good competition, and our players are looking forward to it.”
Regardless of how the season ends, Copp is grateful for his team, who have already made history by taking a chance on him and assembling SPU’s inaugural women’s golf team.
“I’m really proud of these seven players who made history,” Copp said. “For them to take a chance on a new program, going to a new coach, new campus, and for them to grow as people has been really rewarding. Some of them have built some good friendships with each other, so I’m proud of them for handling the new change, taking that leap of faith and seeing it all the way through to the end.”
Looking ahead:
Uncertain about GNACs, the team is already planning ahead, thinking about how they can improve next season.
Rhodes is expecting to approach her senior year with a different mindset, one she hopes will alleviate some of the pressure she has placed on herself this season.
“I’ve always taken golf very seriously,” Rhodes said. “If I don’t make a shot, I like to put myself down, so I’ve learned this year [to ask] what do I have to win. What do you have to gain [or] lose? Of course, [there is] a trophy or bragging rights, but other than that, you don’t have anything to lose in a tournament. I’m not taking it less seriously; I want to play my best for my team, but [I’m] not putting so much pressure on myself.”
After gaining a full season’s experience at the college level, Schau, a business major, is confident she can do more in 2026 and build on top of the team’s upcoming GNAC appearance.
“I came from high school, where it wasn’t that serious, so it’s been super interesting to put myself out there and have to compete with my team every week,” Schau said. “It’s been challenging, but it’s a lot more rewarding than I expected. It’s our first year as a team, so to even just be together is enough, and then [GNACs] will just prepare us more for next year.”
Near the end of their historic inaugural run, the SPU women’s golf team is nonetheless prepared to compete.
“Our season’s gone by really fast, from fall to spring, and a lot of golf has been played, so I think we’re ready to see what we can do at GNACs,” Fenton said.
