STORM LAKE, Iowa (Sept. 3, 2022) - The Buena Vista women's golf team takes the course to begin its Fall 2022 season today (Sept. 3) as it competes in the Norse / Kohawk Invitational, hosted by Luther College and Coe College, and being played at Fox Ridge Golf Course in Dike, Iowa.  The first wave of BVU golfers is set to tee-off just after 11:30 a.m.

Cara Kempadoo is the lone senior on this year's roster and is coming off a junior campaign where she led the team in scoring average at 92.2.  Junior Emily Powers also returns along with sophomore Lea Pederson.  Four new members will make their Beaver debuts this season for head coach Joe Powell, who is set to begin his second season guiding the women's squad.

"The first couple weeks of qualifying have been going very well," says Powell. "We have seen a lot of good things from our freshman class we brought in and expect our returners to pick up right where they left off."

BVU finished last season 8^th at the American Rivers Conference Championships while playing the majority of the year with only four golfers.  Powell is excited to have more depth in 2022 and says he's pleased with how well the ladies are striking the ball early on.

"Overall the women's team as a whole has been striking the ball pretty well," he states. "We have noticed that our short game is definitely holding us back some, and we need to clean that up a bit as we start getting into tournament play."

Hailey Bistodeau, Katelyn Nielsen, Naomi SchraderBacher and Brooke Stellmaker are each in their first season with BVU, and Powell is excited to have added a talented group.

"All of the freshman players hit the ball well," he says. "The biggest key for all three of them will be consistency and avoiding the big numbers. Brooke has led the group in scoring so far with Hailey and Naomi striking the ball very well. I have seen Naomi already drive the ball over 250 yards multiple times which is impressive as a freshman."

The Beavers are scheduled to play eight rounds leading up to the A-R-C Championships (Oct. 8-10).  Among the scheduled events is the 36-hole BVU Fall Invite on September 17-18 at the BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek.

"Most of the returners have looked like they worked on their games over the summer and should be stronger this fall," says Powell. "I will be leaning on them to teach the freshman class how to handle the tournament play setting and keep a good head on their shoulders even when some of the rounds do go the exact way they wanted."

With the addition of Annika Patton to his coaching staff starting this fall, Powell is excited about how the extra guidance will benefit the team going forward.

"I think this will be a HUGE benefit to both programs as we can have a coach around most of the players pretty well all the time," he says. "This is going to give the players that added level of confidence and connection to us a staff to help support them during tournament play."