BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- The University of Sioux Falls Women's Golf Team, which has been picked to finish in a tie for third place in a preseason NSIC Coaches Poll, will open the 2019-20 season Sept. 3-4 at the Central Region Preview at Adams Pointe Golf Club, Blue Springs, Mo.
The Cougars squad, which is led by first-year head coach
Tavia Rutherford, finished fourth at the 2018 NSIC Championship after claiming third in 2017.
It is a squad that will mix experience with a group of talented youth. USF will open their season on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Adams Pointe Golf Club. They will play in the Central Region Preview, which will consist of 36 holes of competition across two rounds, which will wrap up Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Projected starters for USF include senior
Lexi Hanson, who has qualified for two straight NCAA DII Regionals and also earned All-NSIC honors two straight seasons. Others starters include All-NSIC performer and junior
Alex Nutter, juniors
Lexi Jonas and
Sydney Hubbard as well as freshman Maggie Veenendall. Freshman Annie Balduzzi will play as an individual at the tournament.
USF projected in tie for third in NSIC
In the NSIC Coaches Poll, USF finished with 91 points and tied with Concordia St. Paul for third. Augustana was voted as the league favorite and just edged Minnesota State in vote points, 114-to-113. Both AU and MSU received six first place ballots. USF's
Lexi Hanson was named USF's "Player to Watch."
Quick USF Preview –
USF Women's Golf Team claimed fourth place at the league championships a year ago. USF finished the 2018 tourney at 132 over par and 996 (328-328-341). The Cougars will look to move up as the team returns its entire starting lineup. Hubbard and Hanson finished at 28-over par and 244 at the NSIC tournament as they finished tied for 11
th place. Nutter also placed in the top 20 with a 17
th place finish as she was 36-over par and had a 252.
For the season, the Cougars averaged 326.56 shots per round with Hanson leading the way at 79.67 in 21 rounds. Nutter was second at 81.11 with Hubbard at 82.72 for third best on the team. The Cougars twice shot a season team-best round of 312 in 2018.
Individual Notes for Starters
Hansen qualified for the NCAA DII regionals and finished 52
nd as she became the second USF golfer to reach the DII regionals in back-to-back seasons. Hanson, a criminal justice and psychology double major, was a second team All-NSIC selection in 2018-19. She had a solid season as a junior with five top-10 and eight top-20 finishes among the nine competitions and 18 rounds played. Hanson, who has 10 career top-10 finishes, was 11th individually at the NSIC Championship with a 244 (80-83-81) in Morton, Minn on April 26-28.
Nutter, who is a junior elementary education major, placed 17th at the 2019 NSIC Women's Golf Championship with a 36-over par 252 (81-83-88) last spring. Nutter, who was named NSIC Golfer of the Week on April 10, 2018, twice has carded a career-best 154 including at the Central Region Preview (75-79) and at the Augustana Invitational (76-78) on Sept. 29-30, 2018. She has had 10 top-20 finishes in her career. She also had three top-10 placements and now has five in her career.
Hubbard, who had a 82.72 scoring average in 18 rounds on 1,489 shots in 2018-19, had a best two-rond total of 161 in the fall of 2018 after rounds of 82-79 at the Ramada Mustang Invite. A junior biology major from Onalaska, Wis.,Hubbard has four career sub 80 rounds and recorded two in 2018-19 – 79 in second round of Ramada Mustang Invite and 79 in the second round of the Central Region Preview in 2018. Her career-best round of 75 was carded in the final round of the NSIC Championships in 2017 (88-82-75-245). Hubbard highlighted her play for USF in 2018-19 with a "hole in one" on hole No. 2 (174-yards) at the Jennies Invite on March 25-26, 2018. It was the first hole in one by a USF player in 2018. At the NSIC Championship last spring, she was tied for 11
th with a three-round total of 244 (81-80-83).
Jonas had an 85.39 per round average with 1,537 shots on 18 rounds in 2018-19. A junior exercise science major from Hudson, Wis., Jonas had her best performance of the fall (2018) at the Ramada Mustang Invite. She shot a two-round total of 157 (79-78). The 78 by Jonas in the second round of the Ramada Mustang Invite was her top round of the season. She has recorded three sub-80 rounds including a career-best 77 in the second round of the Tracy Lane Memorial on Sept. 11-12, 2017. At the NSIC Championship in 2018, Jonas carded a three-round total of 263 (89-81-93).
Veenendall, a freshman from New Richmond, Wis., brings a strong resume to the USF program. A four-time, first team all-conference recipient while attending New Richmond High School, she was named Middle Border Conference Player of the Year three times. One of Veenendall's biggest accomplishments was leading the Tiger golf program to a sectional championship and the Division 1 state tournament appearance in 2018. She finished tied for sixth with a two-day total of 156 (81-75), helping her to all-tournament honors. She had a 9-hole scoring average for conference meets of 38.78 and 18- hole scoring average of 77.6. With a career-best score of 71, she earned medalist honors at the Superior Invitational in 2018.
Balduzzi, a freshman from Onalaska, Wis., joins USF after a decorated high school and junior golf career. One of the best golfers in the state of Wisconsin, Balduzzi attended Aquinas High School. A three-sport athlete, Balduzzi lettered in golf, basketball and softball. She was a four-time first team all-conference recipient, three-time Mississippi Valley Conference individual champion (2015, 2016, 2017), and was named the Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year this past season. She placed second in the Division 2 Wisconsin High School State Golf Tournament in October. Balduzzi, who finished in the top-10 as an individual at the state tournament in each of the last three years (2016, 2017, 2018), led her team to the Wisconsin state title in 2017. She had a nine-hole scoring average in conference matches at 39.0 and 79.0 for 18-hole tournaments.
