Strong finishes highlight golf teams' tournaments
Augustana’s men’s and women’s golf teams both saw exciting moments during their tournaments this past week. The women placed sixth out of 18 teams in the Hardscrabble Invitational in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on March 24 and 25, while the men’s team placed 12th out of 18 teams in the NSIC Preview Invitational on the same dates.
The women’s team played well in their second tournament of 2025. Leading the pack for the Vikings was senior Masy Mock, who finished in a tie for eighth with a score of 227. Despite her impressive performance, however, she wasn’t satisfied.
“I feel like the performance was good, but like any person, we are always thinking about the shots we can make up and ways to be better,” Mock said.
Junior Lanie Veenendall, who finished in a tie for 12th with a score of 228, also had a successful round. The highlight of her tournament was when she secured an eagle on a par five in her last round.
Coach Coralee Jorgensen credited much of the team’s success to Mock and Veenendall.
“Masy played well, Lanie played well, and that helped us climb the leaderboard,” Jorgensen said. “While other teams were maybe going the opposite direction, we were going up the ladder in a positive way.”
The men’s team’s highlight from its tournament was when junior Jacob Stewart hit a hole-in-one on the 17th hole of his second round. Unfortunately, Stewart didn’t get to see the end of his drive because of an obstruction.
“Stew and I couldn’t see it go in because [the hole] was tucked behind a bunker,” coach Mike Krsnak explained. “But we saw the reactions from the families up by the green.”
According to Krsnak, big shots like these can be exciting and energizing for the entire team.
Stewart and seniors Will Allen and Emmet Hansen had great performances, all tying for 30th place out of 114 with individual scores of 147.
The Vikings have big goals for the rest of the season, and the path to reaching these goals begins with the seniors.
“[Allen] is our number-one player,” sophomore golfer Jimmy Mendel said. “He shows the team how to work hard in order to reach our goal of winning a conference championship and making it to regionals.”
The men’s and women’s golf teams will soon compete at their home tournament, the Augustana Spring Invite, taking place on April 7 and 8 at Elmwood Golf Course.
