Completed Event: Women's Golf at Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational on September 29, 2025 , , T-8th of 15
W Golf
at Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational
T-8th of 15
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, September 19
Madison, Wis.
Grand Canyon
at
Badger Invitational
Potential brims for Giesecke's deepest team
9/17/2021 9:00:00 AM | Women's Golf, Paul Coro
Senior trio, sophomore duo take scorching qualifying play to Wisconsin
Some of the best Grand Canyon women's golf competition all season will happen before the Lopes arrive at tournaments.
GCU is so loaded that the qualifying rounds to earn spots on its five-player travel team may be the players' toughest challenge. The Lopes have been to an NCAA regional as the 2018 WAC champions, but the GCU squad that opens the season this weekend in Wisconsin is potentially its strongest one yet.
With the experience of seniors Payton Fehringer, Alexis Linam and Siripatsorn Patchana and rapidly rising sophomores Lani Luafalealo and Carly Strole, the Lopes are going to the Badger Invitational with five players who each averaged less than 74 strokes per round over six qualifying rounds on three golf courses. Linam (70.4) and Patchana (70.6) posted below-par averages.
"The sky's the limit with this team," GCU head coach Lauren Giesecke said before the start of her seventh GCU season. "We have such a deep team that has a lot of experience. I don't even know what our potential could be. It's just going to be outrageous. Any one of them can go out and win a tournament. As a team, we could dominate the golf courses. I feel so confident with this team."
The Lopes return their four best golfers, by stroke average, from last season in Fehringer, Patchana, Luafalealo and Strole and expect Linam to have a bounce-back season.
Linam, a graduate of nearby Peoria Liberty High School, was the 2020 GCU Invitational champion and a former U.S. Women's Amateur qualifier who finished first in preseason qualifying rounds at GCU Golf Course, Phoenix Country Club and Superstition Mountain Golf Club.
"I worked all summer on different mental things and swing things and I have seen a huge difference since we started," Linam said. "I'm really excited to get back into it. Last year was such a big struggle for me so it's nice to be able to look back and know that I have played in competitive situations and that I'm still good enough to play in those situations. That helped me mentally, confidence-wise, to get back to the place I am now."
The Lopes won the GCU Invitational and Red Rocks Invitational last season before being the runner-up at WAC Championships, which they led after two rounds. But this season's team is so improved that the sixth-place player in qualifying would have been top two in the past.
"We have a lot of potential and talent on the team," said Patchana, a Thailand native who won the 2018 WAC individual title as a freshman. "I think we can get whatever we want this year. We've put so much work into this. All of us trust each other to perform well and both aspects, on and off the court.
Patchana finished third or higher in three tournaments last season and, like Linam, has professional goals for next year.
"I'm just really thankful to be back," Patchana said. "It's slowly getting better. From the physical perspective and the mental perspective, being here for four years has given me a good picture and experience to go to the next level. This year, with my last opportunity to play college golf and experience this one last time, I'm really excited."
With Fehringer ending last season as the WAC Championships individual runner-up, the Lopes look strong enough in the senior class without factoring in two sophomore sensations.
Strole, from neighboring Avondale, Arizona, is the team's most improved player. Her game began to shine as a freshman last season, when she ended the GCU Invitational with a 5-under-par round and won an 11-team tournament by three strokes at New Mexico a month later.
"I definitely grew so much and figured out course management, how to handle myself and how to be a good teammate," Strole said. "Even in those rounds when it wasn't going the best, I still had to be my teammates' No. 1 fan. That helped me grow as a golfer and a person.
"At first, I wasn't used to coaches. They definitely knew how to get me out of my shell. At some places in my golf career, I've been complacent. They push me outside that bubble. There's always something to be striving for. Both of them (Giesecke and assistant coach Kelli Bowers) have different coaching styles and I needed both."
Strole hits well for distance but is also a creative shotmaker with a distinct, confident style. The offseason improvement has been impressive, but it might pale to what she does next.
"She has just shown up from the get-go," Giesecke said. "As soon as she got here, she's shown great leadership skills and really immersed with the team. People look up to her as a sophomore. That's cool to see. The maturity she has with her game, where she's at and what she wants, it's just a night and day difference from last year.
"She'll exceed every expectation that she has for herself this year. I've never seen that big of a turnaround."
Luafalealo, the Cowgirl Classic runner-up as a freshman, also is showing major strides to supplement her powerful game. The Hawaiian is part of a 12-player Lopes team that melds together for everything from golf to dinner to "Bachelor in Paradise" viewing.
The GCU players represent six states, with three Arizonans, and four countries.
"I've never felt so great about a team before as I do now," Giesecke said.
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GCU is so loaded that the qualifying rounds to earn spots on its five-player travel team may be the players' toughest challenge. The Lopes have been to an NCAA regional as the 2018 WAC champions, but the GCU squad that opens the season this weekend in Wisconsin is potentially its strongest one yet.
With the experience of seniors Payton Fehringer, Alexis Linam and Siripatsorn Patchana and rapidly rising sophomores Lani Luafalealo and Carly Strole, the Lopes are going to the Badger Invitational with five players who each averaged less than 74 strokes per round over six qualifying rounds on three golf courses. Linam (70.4) and Patchana (70.6) posted below-par averages.
"The sky's the limit with this team," GCU head coach Lauren Giesecke said before the start of her seventh GCU season. "We have such a deep team that has a lot of experience. I don't even know what our potential could be. It's just going to be outrageous. Any one of them can go out and win a tournament. As a team, we could dominate the golf courses. I feel so confident with this team."The Lopes return their four best golfers, by stroke average, from last season in Fehringer, Patchana, Luafalealo and Strole and expect Linam to have a bounce-back season.
Linam, a graduate of nearby Peoria Liberty High School, was the 2020 GCU Invitational champion and a former U.S. Women's Amateur qualifier who finished first in preseason qualifying rounds at GCU Golf Course, Phoenix Country Club and Superstition Mountain Golf Club."I worked all summer on different mental things and swing things and I have seen a huge difference since we started," Linam said. "I'm really excited to get back into it. Last year was such a big struggle for me so it's nice to be able to look back and know that I have played in competitive situations and that I'm still good enough to play in those situations. That helped me mentally, confidence-wise, to get back to the place I am now."
The Lopes won the GCU Invitational and Red Rocks Invitational last season before being the runner-up at WAC Championships, which they led after two rounds. But this season's team is so improved that the sixth-place player in qualifying would have been top two in the past.
"We have a lot of potential and talent on the team," said Patchana, a Thailand native who won the 2018 WAC individual title as a freshman. "I think we can get whatever we want this year. We've put so much work into this. All of us trust each other to perform well and both aspects, on and off the court.Patchana finished third or higher in three tournaments last season and, like Linam, has professional goals for next year.
"I'm just really thankful to be back," Patchana said. "It's slowly getting better. From the physical perspective and the mental perspective, being here for four years has given me a good picture and experience to go to the next level. This year, with my last opportunity to play college golf and experience this one last time, I'm really excited."
With Fehringer ending last season as the WAC Championships individual runner-up, the Lopes look strong enough in the senior class without factoring in two sophomore sensations.
Strole, from neighboring Avondale, Arizona, is the team's most improved player. Her game began to shine as a freshman last season, when she ended the GCU Invitational with a 5-under-par round and won an 11-team tournament by three strokes at New Mexico a month later."I definitely grew so much and figured out course management, how to handle myself and how to be a good teammate," Strole said. "Even in those rounds when it wasn't going the best, I still had to be my teammates' No. 1 fan. That helped me grow as a golfer and a person.
"At first, I wasn't used to coaches. They definitely knew how to get me out of my shell. At some places in my golf career, I've been complacent. They push me outside that bubble. There's always something to be striving for. Both of them (Giesecke and assistant coach Kelli Bowers) have different coaching styles and I needed both."
Strole hits well for distance but is also a creative shotmaker with a distinct, confident style. The offseason improvement has been impressive, but it might pale to what she does next.
"She has just shown up from the get-go," Giesecke said. "As soon as she got here, she's shown great leadership skills and really immersed with the team. People look up to her as a sophomore. That's cool to see. The maturity she has with her game, where she's at and what she wants, it's just a night and day difference from last year.
"She'll exceed every expectation that she has for herself this year. I've never seen that big of a turnaround."
Luafalealo, the Cowgirl Classic runner-up as a freshman, also is showing major strides to supplement her powerful game. The Hawaiian is part of a 12-player Lopes team that melds together for everything from golf to dinner to "Bachelor in Paradise" viewing.
The GCU players represent six states, with three Arizonans, and four countries.
"I've never felt so great about a team before as I do now," Giesecke said.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Head Coach Brent Nicoson Meets the Team | August 29, 2024
Friday, February 07