Upcoming Event: Women's Golf at Leadership and Design Invitational on September 14, 2026
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at Leadership and Design Invitational
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, September 18
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Grand Canyon
at
Coeur d’Alene Collegiate Invitational
Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg
Goals stay lofty with altered lineup
9/15/2022 11:24:00 AM | Women's Golf, Paul Coro
GCU opens season in Idaho with bounce-back players, starring freshman
Gone are the names that made Grand Canyon a name in WAC women's golf.
Alexis Linam and Siripatsorn Patchana played on the 2018 WAC champions a year before Payton Fehringer became WAC Freshman of the Year. Patchana won the WAC Championship twice. Linam won the GCU Invitational twice.
Without those seniors, GCU starts a new season Sunday in Idaho with players who are ready to make a name for themselves and further ascend the program's name.
Despite having one returnee from last year's WAC Championship lineup, the Lopes lineup for the 15-team Couer D'Alene Collegiate Invitational is loaded with an All-WAC second-team player from last season, an All-WAC first-team player from 2020-21, a potential most-improved player and a freshman who led team qualifying.
"I obviously loved the seniors and they've done so much for this program that I can't thank them enough," GCU eighth-year head coach Lauren Giesecke said. "But I do think now you're going to see a lot of our players come out and show who they are. It's really motivated all of them to show up and show out and be that new leader in the clubhouse."
Four returnees cracked GCU's first tournament lineup, but freshman Ryan Flynn barely began classes before doing her first "A" work on the links.
During six rounds of intrasquad qualifying at GCU Golf Course (three rounds), Troon North Golf Club, Wigwam Golf Club and Raven Golf Club, Flynn emerged as the team leader with a cumulative even-par score. The Truckee, California, native thrives off her short game with putting confidence and reads that make her capable of rolling in long birdies.
"She's super-competitive," Giesecke said. "I watched her the most this summer because she was at a lot of the same tournaments that I recruited at. You can just tell when somebody has the drive. If they make a bogey, they are going to make it up and come back with a birdie at some point. That's her personality. She definitely likes to win."
The Spaniard duo of senior Carmen Belmonte and junior Constanza Guerrero played the best among the rest.
Belmonte is the most improved Lope after struggling with her play last fall and then missing most of the spring for a fractured finger. A chance to compete in the season opener makes her want to "enjoy it like a kid."
"It's cool being that leader now and seeing how the younger girls are looking at me," Belmonte said. "That's motivation for me.
"I worked a lot during the summer and now I have a lot of confidence. I'm very focused on myself when I'm out there playing golf. That is making me enjoy every moment that I'm playing and the scores are coming."
That summer work encompassed everything from her mental game to refining every part of her swing.
"She came back and just is a completely different player this year," Giesecke said. "She's so level. She's here for one reason and that's to win. She wants to get better on the golf course. What she's done has been extremely impressive."
Guerrero carried over an All-WAC second-team season for strong summer performances with maturing play. She is the only one returning from the WAC Championship lineup, when the Lopes fired the best final-round score but had dug too deep of a hole to rally.
"We haven't seen what Cons can do yet, so I'm really, really excited," Giesecke said of Guerrero. "I think we're going to see some really low numbers from her this season. I think it's going to be a breakout year for her."
As with Belmonte, Tagiralani Luafalealo comes off a year out of the lineup but the Hawaii native is recapturing the form that put her in 2020-21 WAC Player of the Year contention as a freshman. Her career scoring average of 74.2 was a team best, but she is building on her long drives with improved putting.
"This has been the best start to a year that I've seen from Lani," Giesecke said. "She's pumped up to be here and is energetic. She's already asked me a million questions about her putting stroke and her swing, so I know she wants it. Not having that spring season showed her how much she wants to be out on that golf course and traveling."
Junior Becca Tschetter made her first travel tournament lineup for Idaho after she stormed out to lead after the first two intrasquad qualifying rounds. The Minot, North Dakota, native held off junior Carly Strole, who is among the team's most talented and experienced players.
"Becca worked really hard this summer," Giesecke said of her quality practice time for swing breakdowns. "She's been super-focused. It's been really fun watching her. We already knew she has the game and the skill. Now, she's putting it together. It's been impressive to see her game continue to improve over and over again. But now she's at a more consistent level with low scores."
The Lopes finished 89th in national rankings last season, putting them close to the top one-third. When the season's first half ends after five fall tournaments, GCU believes it can be in the top 60 (the top national quadrant) entering the spring. The returnees are pushed by last season's disappointing finish and the newcomers are here to help.
The Lopes also added freshman Amelia Curtis of England, a five-time Junior European Open qualifier, and also return sophomores Kailey Bass and Diletta Facchini and senior Reyna Hernandez with new assistant Chelsea Carroll, who coached South Mountain Community College to the junior college men's golf national championship this year.
"We're going to have the toughest job picking the top five to travel each tournament," Giesecke said. "That's great. I don't mind that at all. A lot of teams will think we are an underdog because we lost a lot of seniors, but we have a whole new team ready to go."
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Alexis Linam and Siripatsorn Patchana played on the 2018 WAC champions a year before Payton Fehringer became WAC Freshman of the Year. Patchana won the WAC Championship twice. Linam won the GCU Invitational twice.
Without those seniors, GCU starts a new season Sunday in Idaho with players who are ready to make a name for themselves and further ascend the program's name.Despite having one returnee from last year's WAC Championship lineup, the Lopes lineup for the 15-team Couer D'Alene Collegiate Invitational is loaded with an All-WAC second-team player from last season, an All-WAC first-team player from 2020-21, a potential most-improved player and a freshman who led team qualifying.
"I obviously loved the seniors and they've done so much for this program that I can't thank them enough," GCU eighth-year head coach Lauren Giesecke said. "But I do think now you're going to see a lot of our players come out and show who they are. It's really motivated all of them to show up and show out and be that new leader in the clubhouse."
Four returnees cracked GCU's first tournament lineup, but freshman Ryan Flynn barely began classes before doing her first "A" work on the links.During six rounds of intrasquad qualifying at GCU Golf Course (three rounds), Troon North Golf Club, Wigwam Golf Club and Raven Golf Club, Flynn emerged as the team leader with a cumulative even-par score. The Truckee, California, native thrives off her short game with putting confidence and reads that make her capable of rolling in long birdies.
"She's super-competitive," Giesecke said. "I watched her the most this summer because she was at a lot of the same tournaments that I recruited at. You can just tell when somebody has the drive. If they make a bogey, they are going to make it up and come back with a birdie at some point. That's her personality. She definitely likes to win."
The Spaniard duo of senior Carmen Belmonte and junior Constanza Guerrero played the best among the rest.
Belmonte is the most improved Lope after struggling with her play last fall and then missing most of the spring for a fractured finger. A chance to compete in the season opener makes her want to "enjoy it like a kid.""It's cool being that leader now and seeing how the younger girls are looking at me," Belmonte said. "That's motivation for me.
"I worked a lot during the summer and now I have a lot of confidence. I'm very focused on myself when I'm out there playing golf. That is making me enjoy every moment that I'm playing and the scores are coming."
That summer work encompassed everything from her mental game to refining every part of her swing.
"She came back and just is a completely different player this year," Giesecke said. "She's so level. She's here for one reason and that's to win. She wants to get better on the golf course. What she's done has been extremely impressive."
Guerrero carried over an All-WAC second-team season for strong summer performances with maturing play. She is the only one returning from the WAC Championship lineup, when the Lopes fired the best final-round score but had dug too deep of a hole to rally."We haven't seen what Cons can do yet, so I'm really, really excited," Giesecke said of Guerrero. "I think we're going to see some really low numbers from her this season. I think it's going to be a breakout year for her."
As with Belmonte, Tagiralani Luafalealo comes off a year out of the lineup but the Hawaii native is recapturing the form that put her in 2020-21 WAC Player of the Year contention as a freshman. Her career scoring average of 74.2 was a team best, but she is building on her long drives with improved putting."This has been the best start to a year that I've seen from Lani," Giesecke said. "She's pumped up to be here and is energetic. She's already asked me a million questions about her putting stroke and her swing, so I know she wants it. Not having that spring season showed her how much she wants to be out on that golf course and traveling."
Junior Becca Tschetter made her first travel tournament lineup for Idaho after she stormed out to lead after the first two intrasquad qualifying rounds. The Minot, North Dakota, native held off junior Carly Strole, who is among the team's most talented and experienced players."Becca worked really hard this summer," Giesecke said of her quality practice time for swing breakdowns. "She's been super-focused. It's been really fun watching her. We already knew she has the game and the skill. Now, she's putting it together. It's been impressive to see her game continue to improve over and over again. But now she's at a more consistent level with low scores."
The Lopes finished 89th in national rankings last season, putting them close to the top one-third. When the season's first half ends after five fall tournaments, GCU believes it can be in the top 60 (the top national quadrant) entering the spring. The returnees are pushed by last season's disappointing finish and the newcomers are here to help.
The Lopes also added freshman Amelia Curtis of England, a five-time Junior European Open qualifier, and also return sophomores Kailey Bass and Diletta Facchini and senior Reyna Hernandez with new assistant Chelsea Carroll, who coached South Mountain Community College to the junior college men's golf national championship this year.
"We're going to have the toughest job picking the top five to travel each tournament," Giesecke said. "That's great. I don't mind that at all. A lot of teams will think we are an underdog because we lost a lot of seniors, but we have a whole new team ready to go."
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