The (RV) Park University women's golf program went south on the Kansas side on Monday and Tuesday for the Women's Golf Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship in Overland Park, Kan. at Nicklaus Golf Club at Lionsgate.
Park was 14 strokes behind the leader, Baker University, after round one with a score of 333. Their position remained the same throughout the event with a 325 and 338 in subsequent rounds for a 996 total.
Also receiving votes in the NAIA National Rating is William Penn University, who overcame Baker in round three with a 980 for the tournament and will represent the Heart at the National Championship in Ypsilanti, Mich.
At the conference awards ceremony, Head Coach
Martha Linscott earned her 2
nd Women's Golf Heart Coach of the Year award, going back to her opening season with Park in 2021. The Pirates'
Anna Korsen, in her season debut with Park, was also named the Heart Freshman of the Year.
Speaking of
Anna Korsen, it was a special performance from the Stockholm, Sweden product, as she impressed as the Heart Individual Runner-Up. In the back-nine in round three, Korsen trailed Olivia Lange of William Penn by three strokes. Korsen stayed close and was +3 after hole 15, but a birdie on hole 16 for Korsen would make things interesting. Meanwhile, Lange was +5 after hole 16, which tied things up between the two. On hole 17, Lange opened up the door for Korsen with a bogey, while Korsen pared to give the freshman the one stroke lead. On hole 18, Korsen had a tough recovery shot and Lange hit a birdie put for the win, as Korsen bogeyed the hole.
A very dramatic finish at Lionsgate sealed 2
nd place for Korsen with a 230 on rounds of 76, 77, and 77 and was 14 strokes over par for the tournament.
Micaela Suhl was the next Pirate to come in at T6th with scores of 80, 81, and 86 for a 247.
ZaZa Cagle finished her sophomore season with a 263 in rounds of 88, 89, and 86.
Two more Pirates were huddled up at 23
rd and 24
th, as another freshman in
Grace Rogers scored a 265 on a 92, 84, and 89; while
Kim Albertus was a stroke behind at 266 with an 89, 83, and 94.
The top five golfers were automatically Heart All-Conference in the tournament, but the remaining 10 honorees are selected based on scoring average. Nearly the whole lineup for Park were 2025 Heart All-Conference, including Korsen, Suhl, Rogers, and Albertus.
After taking this last tournament into consideration, there are also two new records that have emerged from 2024-25. This year's team set the program record, broken from last year, with a 320.3 single season team scoring average. Suhl also is the new record holder in individual scoring average in a single season at 76.7. Only seven strokes off from Suhl this season was Korsen with a 77.05 season scoring average and gives her the No. 2 spot in program history.
Park's women's golf program still had a terrific year with five 1
st place finishes and two 2
nd place finishes, a season in Park history that will continued to be remembered along with the beloved Virginia "Ginny" McCoy, who so loved this program..
Team/Individual Results
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