Completed Event: Women's Golf at Leadership and Golf Invitational on September 15, 2025 , , T-6th of 16
W Golf
at Leadership and Golf Invitational
T-6th of 16
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Monday, April 14
Wigwam Golf Club | Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Grand Canyon
vs
WAC Championship
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Top-seeded season ends with 6th place at WAC
4/16/2025 5:15:00 PM | Women's Golf, Paul Coro
Preap, Tremouille return next season after leading GCU this week
LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. – For its year of success, Grand Canyon women's golf was named the top seed for this week's WAC Championship.
But there is no regular-season trophy, just the postseason hardware predicated on a three-day conference tournament that left GCU void of celebration and full of motivation.
The Lopes placed sixth at 34 over par Wednesday in the WAC Championship at Wigwam Golf Club in nearby Litchfield Park, where fifth-seeded Tarleton State won the title at 12 over par.
A season that began seven months ago and was highlighted with two spring tournament wins and a 9-under fall performance in Hawaii closed with the Lopes, first-year head coach Brent Nicoson and assistant coach Leila Raines huddling by the 18th green.
"There are some positives to draw from the season, but at the same time, this hurts," Nicoson said. "We're all competitors. We want to win. When it's the last one for the year, you see them over there in a huddle hugging each other and there is a bunch of tears flowing, it's tough to swallow."
The Lopes were bunched in the standings too, with sophomore Brenna Preap (8 over, 17th), junior Lena Tremouille (9 over, 18th), graduate Calynne Rosholt (10 over, tied for 19th) and senior Anci Dy (11 over, tied for 21st) finishing four places apart. With a wrist injury keeping her out of spring action until this week, senior Alyzza Vakasiuola shot 18 over.
Preap, a sophomore from Stockton, California, was GCU's low scorer at WAC and started all season after not making one of the Lopes travel tournament lineup last season.
After starting the tournament 4 over after two holes, Preap settled in and rallied with an even-par second round.
"It was hard last year not being able to play and definitely took a toll on my mental, but this year I came in trying as hard as I could in every single round that I played," Preap said. "It know my potential, and I just kept working at it.
"I'm proud of where I've been this year. This tournament wasn't how we wanted to or how I wanted to finish, but it's definitely been a wonderful experience, and I'm so thankful to be able to just be a part of it.
GCU only trailed Tarleton State by five strokes after Monday's first round, but entered Wednesday's final down 17 after the Texans shot 5 under in Tuesday's second round.
The Lopes needed a massive move and went 4 under on Wednesday's opening two holes but couldn't sustain that level. GCU closed with its highest round, 16 over.
The Lopes were 9 over on the tournament's final hole and finished seven strokes away from third place.
"We knew what was at stack, and we just couldn't get the job done," Nicoson said. "We didn't play well. We were pretty inconsistent all year, and that's something Coach Raines and I are going to try to fight out. At times, we showed we're a really good team.
"We got of to a very poor start in the first round and couldn't recover."
Rosholt closed with her tournament's best round at 1 over. The championship lineup graduates Dy, Rosholt and Vasaskiuola and will bring back Preap and Tremouille, who also improved to make her first travel rosters this spring with Vasasiuola out.
"Brenna has been a solid contributor all year," Nicoson said. "She has the firepower to make birdies. That's something that she can do in the offseason is learn how to be more consistent, get rid of some of the bogies and worse. And I have to give Lena a lot of credit too. I mean, Lena didn't play last year either and she's been a solid contributor all spring."
Freshman Matilda Samervong, sophomore Jess Haines and junior Amelia Curtis also return for a team that will welcome three freshmen for the fall season.
"We're all new to each other, so we used the whole fall as a learning experience," Nicoson said. "Even now with this first championship together, we have to use this as a learning experience. We'll have meetings next week for the returners coming back. We already have a game plan about what we can change and do better next year.
"There's still a good nucleus. We just have to become an elite team. I need a team of true competitors that just that hate to lose, not just golfers."
Amid the disappointment, a Utah Tech golfer's parent approached Nicoson to commend Preap for how the Lope consoled her daughter through a hole in which she was struggling. That is the big picture and program culture that Nicoson strives to create with his GCU players.
"Coach always talks about team culture, and I like to think that our team is strong," Preap said. "We have bonds with each other for a lifetime. We'll always refer back to each other whenever needed – sisters for life.
"I hope we take this and just work harder. We all know that we can shoot those low scores, and I want the girls to believe in themselves. I just want them and myself to go into the next year knowing how well we played this season and just keep the program's momentum rolling."
But there is no regular-season trophy, just the postseason hardware predicated on a three-day conference tournament that left GCU void of celebration and full of motivation.
The Lopes placed sixth at 34 over par Wednesday in the WAC Championship at Wigwam Golf Club in nearby Litchfield Park, where fifth-seeded Tarleton State won the title at 12 over par.
A season that began seven months ago and was highlighted with two spring tournament wins and a 9-under fall performance in Hawaii closed with the Lopes, first-year head coach Brent Nicoson and assistant coach Leila Raines huddling by the 18th green."There are some positives to draw from the season, but at the same time, this hurts," Nicoson said. "We're all competitors. We want to win. When it's the last one for the year, you see them over there in a huddle hugging each other and there is a bunch of tears flowing, it's tough to swallow."
The Lopes were bunched in the standings too, with sophomore Brenna Preap (8 over, 17th), junior Lena Tremouille (9 over, 18th), graduate Calynne Rosholt (10 over, tied for 19th) and senior Anci Dy (11 over, tied for 21st) finishing four places apart. With a wrist injury keeping her out of spring action until this week, senior Alyzza Vakasiuola shot 18 over.
Preap, a sophomore from Stockton, California, was GCU's low scorer at WAC and started all season after not making one of the Lopes travel tournament lineup last season.After starting the tournament 4 over after two holes, Preap settled in and rallied with an even-par second round.
"It was hard last year not being able to play and definitely took a toll on my mental, but this year I came in trying as hard as I could in every single round that I played," Preap said. "It know my potential, and I just kept working at it.
"I'm proud of where I've been this year. This tournament wasn't how we wanted to or how I wanted to finish, but it's definitely been a wonderful experience, and I'm so thankful to be able to just be a part of it.
GCU only trailed Tarleton State by five strokes after Monday's first round, but entered Wednesday's final down 17 after the Texans shot 5 under in Tuesday's second round.The Lopes needed a massive move and went 4 under on Wednesday's opening two holes but couldn't sustain that level. GCU closed with its highest round, 16 over.
The Lopes were 9 over on the tournament's final hole and finished seven strokes away from third place.
"We knew what was at stack, and we just couldn't get the job done," Nicoson said. "We didn't play well. We were pretty inconsistent all year, and that's something Coach Raines and I are going to try to fight out. At times, we showed we're a really good team.
"We got of to a very poor start in the first round and couldn't recover."
Rosholt closed with her tournament's best round at 1 over. The championship lineup graduates Dy, Rosholt and Vasaskiuola and will bring back Preap and Tremouille, who also improved to make her first travel rosters this spring with Vasasiuola out."Brenna has been a solid contributor all year," Nicoson said. "She has the firepower to make birdies. That's something that she can do in the offseason is learn how to be more consistent, get rid of some of the bogies and worse. And I have to give Lena a lot of credit too. I mean, Lena didn't play last year either and she's been a solid contributor all spring."
Freshman Matilda Samervong, sophomore Jess Haines and junior Amelia Curtis also return for a team that will welcome three freshmen for the fall season.
"We're all new to each other, so we used the whole fall as a learning experience," Nicoson said. "Even now with this first championship together, we have to use this as a learning experience. We'll have meetings next week for the returners coming back. We already have a game plan about what we can change and do better next year.
"There's still a good nucleus. We just have to become an elite team. I need a team of true competitors that just that hate to lose, not just golfers."
Amid the disappointment, a Utah Tech golfer's parent approached Nicoson to commend Preap for how the Lope consoled her daughter through a hole in which she was struggling. That is the big picture and program culture that Nicoson strives to create with his GCU players."Coach always talks about team culture, and I like to think that our team is strong," Preap said. "We have bonds with each other for a lifetime. We'll always refer back to each other whenever needed – sisters for life.
"I hope we take this and just work harder. We all know that we can shoot those low scores, and I want the girls to believe in themselves. I just want them and myself to go into the next year knowing how well we played this season and just keep the program's momentum rolling."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ 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