A respectable end to a respectable season.
On Monday, April 21, and Tuesday, April 22, the Seattle Pacific University women’s golf team competed for the first time ever in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.
Five teams competed alongside SPU: Montana State University-Billings, Western Washington University, Simon Fraser University, St. Martin’s University and Northwest Nazarene University.
Seattle Pacific finished in 6th place with 331 strokes on the first day and 327 on the second, for a grand total of 658.
Day one
With rain and heavy winds greeting the tournament green, the Falcons had a hard start but rallied in the end.
Zoe Garcia — a sophomore — led the pack with an 80, scoring well on the front nine, paring three holes and birdying two. She played steady on the back nine in the face of fierce winds, paring on four holes and going out with a birdie on the final stretch.
Natalie Eklund — a freshman — scored an 82 by the end of the day. After stumbling a bit in the first half, she finished stronger on the back nine with five pars and two birdies.
Brigitte Fenton — a junior — played an even game, finishing the day with an 83. She parred three times on the front nine and a whopping seven on the back set.
Anika Schau — a freshman — played a respectable first nine, scoring 4 pars and two birdies. Her back nine landed her two pars, totalling her ending score at 86.
Sara Rhodes — a junior — tidied up the end of our team’s scores with a respectable 88. On the front nine, she scored two pars, while on the back nine, she doubled it to four.
Seattle Pacific’s total was 331 points, ending their first day in 5th place.
Day two
Eklund pulled the lowest score on day two with a 79. Scoring three pars and two birdies on the front nine, she finished with four pars and two birdies on the back nine. Natalie’s final score was 161.
Schau stepped up her game yet again, ending with an 81 at the end of day two. She landed seven pars on the front nine. Then scored three more pars and a birdie on the back, wrapping up her year with a clean finish. Her final score was 167.
Fenton scored another 83, finishing up her year with four pars on the front nine, and 5 pars and a birdie on the back. Overall, she played a steady game throughout the tournament. Her final score totaled 166.
Garcia scored an 84 this time around, with her front nine yielding two pars and a birdie, while she landed four pars on the back nine. Overall, Zoe scored 164.
Rhodes scored an 87, playing a good front nine and landing 5 pars. She then scored three pars on the back nine, tallying her total points at 175.
By the end of the day, the wind did not blow in the Falcons’ favor, however. The team ended up in sixth place with a score of 327, a better score than the day before.
Final remarks
Despite the loss, SPU has high hopes for the next season. The roster is young, and they are already showing promise under head coach Tyler Copp.
“We discussed as a team that our success this year isn’t going to be measured by where we place, but more so just our improvement from day one to the end of April when it comes to GNACs,” Copp said.
With coach Copp and assistant coach Annie Yang at their head, the Falcons will only get better.
