A swing in the right direction
Carmen Jirelle wasn’t sure she would even travel with the Augustana women’s golf team this fall. Then she won a tournament.
Jirelle is one of six freshmen on this year’s roster, the program's largest incoming class in over 20 years. The team now rosters 11 players and is one of the largest in school history.
After finishing third at the Central Region Fall Preview and fifth at the Travis Roy Memorial, the Vikings won the next two tournaments.
“I’m just trying my best and trying to play the best round that I can,” Jirelle said. “Just knowing that there’s so much more competition here and at all the schools, everyone is good and it’s not just a few top competitors.”
Only six of the 11 players typically travel to tournaments.
Jirelle tied for first with Junior Payton Drefke at the Mustang invite in Marshall, Minnesota, and won the tiebreaker because she had the lower score in the final round.
Both were named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) golfer of the week for their performance. It was Drefke’s second time earning the award, and she credited her strong start to work she did during the offseason.
“I've worked on my short game this summer, I can kind of see that coming forward this year, and just the hard work, paying off,” Drefke said.
The team has no seniors this year after two-time NSIC champion Lanie Veenedall graduated last spring. Instead, the three juniors – Payton Drefke, Anna Eckmann and Hanna Knoop – are stepping into the leadership roles of the team. They each take turns planning and running captain’s practices.
During a recent practice, Coach Coralee Jorgensen pointed to the upperclassmen videotaping a freshman’s swing.
“That’s what we like to see,” Jorgensen said. “Everybody helping one another.”
According to Jorgensen, the team was in need of rebuilding after losing three players in the 2024-25 season. She said the 25-26 year brought about an unusually small recruiting class, much to the chagrin of many coaches in the region.
Augustana, however, did not suffer from a lack of recruits this season.
“Getting six freshmen [this year] has been fun, and better yet, they're really good,” Jorgensen said.
Augustana will travel to Larchwood, Iowa, to compete against the University of Sioux Falls at the Grand Falls golf course.
“I'm very familiar with the [Grand Falls] course,” Drefke said. “It's just keeping the ball in play, keeping it in the fairway and then everything will be good because there's no trees there.”
As the Vikings progress further into their season, Jorgensen said the biggest test is still to come. The Vikings are set to take on Wayne State, who are ranked first in the preseason coach’s poll and finished first in the NSIC last year. The two teams will face off on Wayne State’s home course on October 19 and 20.
