[Women's Golf] Women's Golf Season Preview

Des Moines, IA - The Grand View Women's Golf team heads to Nipton, CA to begin their 2020 spring season on March 16th and 17th. After completing their fall season with a runner-up finish at the 2019 Osage National Invite, the Vikings look to be in the mix once again for the 2020 Heart of America Conference Tournament. 'Fore' things to know before they get their season underway…

#4: Tournament Schedule

Their first tournament of the season will offer one of the toughest fields as they compete in the Battle at Primm March 16-17th. Next, they will head to Kansas City, Missouri to take on conference rival, Baker, at the Baker University Spring Classic March 23-24th held at Shoal Creek Golf Course. After that, they will compete at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic hosted by Oklahoma City University at Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma April 6-7th. This will be the second time this season that the Vikings get a chance to see the host course for the 2020 NAIA National Championship. Their final tune-up before conference will come April 13-14th when they travel to Olathe, Kansas to compete in the Baker University Spring Invitational, this time held at Prairie Highlands Golf Course. Finally, they will head to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri for the 2020 Heart of America Conference Championship hosted at Osage National Golf Club April 20-21st.

#3: New Faces

The Women's Golf team featured three new players in the fall line-ups and they quickly made an impact. Sophomore Alyssa Kruger (SO/Perry, IA) has the third-best scoring average on the team with an 88.7 and had 6 of her 9 rounds this fall in the 80's. Freshman Emma Griffin (FR/Nevada, IA) compiled a 90.4 scoring average and fired her career-low 83 on two separate occasions. Sophomore Emma Robson (SO/Waverly, IA) finished the fall with her first career top ten (T-8) at the 2019 Osage National invite.

#2: Returners

Viking fans saw two familiar faces in the fall line-ups in Senior Karli Kerrigan (SR/Ankeny, IA) and Sophomore Lauren Anderson (SO/Conrad, IA). Anderson has put herself into contention for all-conference honors after a fall season average of 87, more than six and a half strokes lower than her freshman average. She also posted 3 top-ten finishes during the fall season, most recently at the 2019 Osage National Invite (T-8). With endless practice over the winter, look to see her continue to drop strokes each time she tees it up.

#1: Karli Kerrigan

Coming off a stellar junior season, Kerrigan put together an impressive fall season which saw her earn 4 tournament titles in a row and a runner-up finish. She currently leads all Heart of America players with a 75.27 scoring average and earned conference athlete of the week twice during the fall season. She will look to defend her 2019 Heart of America Conference Championship title, in April.

From the coach

 "I look for us to have a very successful spring led by Karli Kerrigan, our number one player, reigning conference champion and one of the strongest players in the NAIA. We have a lot of depth and I'm looking for Lauren Anderson and Emma Griffin the make significant contributions this spring" – Coach Winkel