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
Tuesday, April 21
Mission Hills CC | Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Grand Canyon
vs
Mountain West Championship
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Youthful GCU chases MW title, lands in 3rd
4/23/2026 5:18:00 PM | Women's Golf, Paul Coro
Lopes' Vakasiuola ties for 3rd for 6th consecutive top-10 finish
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Long after the last putts dropped and the trophies were distributed at the Mountain West Women's Golf Championship, two teams remained on the Mission Hills Country Club course Thursday.
UNLV was in the water near the 18th green, taking a celebratory splash. Grand Canyon was in a team embrace on a hill above the green, taking a moment to reflect on how it nearly was that conference champion and how its young team is on a trajectory to get there.
The Lopes entered Thursday's final round with a one-stroke lead in the conference tournament, stretched it to four strokes during the front nine and was in a tightly contented three-team race going into the final six holes on the iconic Dinah Shore Tournament Course that has challenged LPGA pros for decades.
GCU, with two freshmen among its four scoring players, took third place at the Mountain West Championship at 20 over par, six strokes behind winner UNLV and four strokes behind runner-up San José State. Lopes freshman Alexis Vakasiuola tied for third place on the strength of taking the first-day lead with a bogey-free 68.
"We've told them since Day 1 that we believed in them," Lopes head coach Brent Nicoson said of the staff messaging with assistant coach Chelsea Carroll. "I don't know that they necessarily believed in themselves until here late in the spring. Now they see it."
The Lopes could see it and feel it this week in the Coachella Valley, where Vakasiuola and another freshman, Honor Johnson, were joined in GCU scoring by juniors Lena Tremouille and Jess Haynes, who had received their first extensive Division I experience last season.
A year ago, GCU finished sixth in its first conference tournament under Nicoson at the WAC Championship. This week, the Lopes were in team and individual title contention in a more challenging conference tournament.
"I tried to make it not feel different from the past tournaments, but it definitely did," said Vakasiuola, who is from San Tan Valley, Arizona. "I was just kind of feeling chills. You make the turn to go to 10 and go, 'Whoa, this is it, I've only got nine holes left.' Then you start to realize everything and you get to 18, and so many people are watching. It was nice to play. Definitely a great experience."
Vakasiuola shot 4 under and 1 under in the first two rounds to continue her spring tear but was 5 over Thursday, when she battled to only slide one spot from her second-place position after two rounds.
"She has been on a tear that I haven't seen as a coach," Nicoson said. "She was averaging 69.4 (strokes per round) over the last 15 rounds coming into the conference championship. It was a heck of a run for her. She's been a special player. We need to build around her."
The San Tan Valley High School graduate finished her first college season with six consecutive top-10 finishes, including winning the GCU Invitational and being runner-up at the Alice and John Wallace Women's Golf Classic. Not including this week's third-place finish, Vakasioula had risen 358 spots in the national individual rankings since February to reach No. 177.
"Honestly, I am very happy with how I finished," Vakasiuola said. "Today wasn't my best day, but considering that, I was still able to place. I was able to get two good rounds, so I'm glad. This is just the start for me. I'm just a freshman. It can only get better for me."
The tournament marked the end of Tremouille's Lopes career, which went from her nearly not wanting to finish the 2023-24 season to feeling at home at GCU and ending with her third top-10 tournament finish of the season. Tremouille played a 1-over final round with her parents traveling from France to be a part of her final GCU tournament and her Friday morning commencement.
"I've put everything in place to play my best game," Tremouille said. "Even if I couldn't make more putts, sometimes it's like that. It's not the result we expected, but I'm proud of the team. We did our best to be tough, be confident.
"I love the team. We did so amazing. I'm really going to miss GCU forever."
Before the fall season began, Nicoson knew the culture construction in his program was ahead of construction despite losing four all-conference players. From the way Vakasiuola shined in fall qualifying to the way the team clicked and worked, that feeling was reinforced throughout the season for Nicoson.
The roster's youthful energy became a hunger to make history for GCU, and it came close this week.
"The way they progressed throughout the year was fun to watch them get better and better," Nicoson said. "From fall to spring, we were a different team. In the fall, we were feeling it out and taking our lumps. It was kind of a roller coaster. And then in the spring, we started to get steady and what Alexis did in the spring was amazing. She carried us all year.
"The culture means everything to me as a coach. If the culture is right, everybody's bought in and they'll train harder and do the right things. That's what I give them the most credit for. It's been a fun group to coach. We got better as the year went, and it started to show late in the year."
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UNLV was in the water near the 18th green, taking a celebratory splash. Grand Canyon was in a team embrace on a hill above the green, taking a moment to reflect on how it nearly was that conference champion and how its young team is on a trajectory to get there.
The Lopes entered Thursday's final round with a one-stroke lead in the conference tournament, stretched it to four strokes during the front nine and was in a tightly contented three-team race going into the final six holes on the iconic Dinah Shore Tournament Course that has challenged LPGA pros for decades.
GCU, with two freshmen among its four scoring players, took third place at the Mountain West Championship at 20 over par, six strokes behind winner UNLV and four strokes behind runner-up San José State. Lopes freshman Alexis Vakasiuola tied for third place on the strength of taking the first-day lead with a bogey-free 68.
"We've told them since Day 1 that we believed in them," Lopes head coach Brent Nicoson said of the staff messaging with assistant coach Chelsea Carroll. "I don't know that they necessarily believed in themselves until here late in the spring. Now they see it."
The Lopes could see it and feel it this week in the Coachella Valley, where Vakasiuola and another freshman, Honor Johnson, were joined in GCU scoring by juniors Lena Tremouille and Jess Haynes, who had received their first extensive Division I experience last season.
A year ago, GCU finished sixth in its first conference tournament under Nicoson at the WAC Championship. This week, the Lopes were in team and individual title contention in a more challenging conference tournament.
"I tried to make it not feel different from the past tournaments, but it definitely did," said Vakasiuola, who is from San Tan Valley, Arizona. "I was just kind of feeling chills. You make the turn to go to 10 and go, 'Whoa, this is it, I've only got nine holes left.' Then you start to realize everything and you get to 18, and so many people are watching. It was nice to play. Definitely a great experience."
Vakasiuola shot 4 under and 1 under in the first two rounds to continue her spring tear but was 5 over Thursday, when she battled to only slide one spot from her second-place position after two rounds.
"She has been on a tear that I haven't seen as a coach," Nicoson said. "She was averaging 69.4 (strokes per round) over the last 15 rounds coming into the conference championship. It was a heck of a run for her. She's been a special player. We need to build around her."
The San Tan Valley High School graduate finished her first college season with six consecutive top-10 finishes, including winning the GCU Invitational and being runner-up at the Alice and John Wallace Women's Golf Classic. Not including this week's third-place finish, Vakasioula had risen 358 spots in the national individual rankings since February to reach No. 177.
"Honestly, I am very happy with how I finished," Vakasiuola said. "Today wasn't my best day, but considering that, I was still able to place. I was able to get two good rounds, so I'm glad. This is just the start for me. I'm just a freshman. It can only get better for me."
The tournament marked the end of Tremouille's Lopes career, which went from her nearly not wanting to finish the 2023-24 season to feeling at home at GCU and ending with her third top-10 tournament finish of the season. Tremouille played a 1-over final round with her parents traveling from France to be a part of her final GCU tournament and her Friday morning commencement.
"I've put everything in place to play my best game," Tremouille said. "Even if I couldn't make more putts, sometimes it's like that. It's not the result we expected, but I'm proud of the team. We did our best to be tough, be confident.
"I love the team. We did so amazing. I'm really going to miss GCU forever."
Before the fall season began, Nicoson knew the culture construction in his program was ahead of construction despite losing four all-conference players. From the way Vakasiuola shined in fall qualifying to the way the team clicked and worked, that feeling was reinforced throughout the season for Nicoson.
The roster's youthful energy became a hunger to make history for GCU, and it came close this week.
"The way they progressed throughout the year was fun to watch them get better and better," Nicoson said. "From fall to spring, we were a different team. In the fall, we were feeling it out and taking our lumps. It was kind of a roller coaster. And then in the spring, we started to get steady and what Alexis did in the spring was amazing. She carried us all year.
"The culture means everything to me as a coach. If the culture is right, everybody's bought in and they'll train harder and do the right things. That's what I give them the most credit for. It's been a fun group to coach. We got better as the year went, and it started to show late in the year."
Players Mentioned
Head Coach Brent Nicoson Meets the Team | August 29, 2024
Friday, February 07