Friday, October 21, 2022
SEATTLE - Seattle Pacific University has announced the decision to add a women’s golf program to become the 13th sport offered by SPU.
“I am thrilled to announce the addition of women’s golf at Seattle Pacific,” Athletic Director Jackson Stava said. “As trends in higher education shift, we feel that this sport will address gender equity concerns on campus while also directly addressing the desires of our student body. I believe that women’s golf is a sport that can generate excitement in our community, and better align us with our GNAC colleague institutions.”
The Falcons plan to join Montana State Billings, Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s, Simon Fraser and Western Washington as GNAC members with women’s golf.
Originally scheduled to start competition in fall 2023, the university made the decision in December to delay the start of the program by one season to fall 2024.
"As we are going through some leadership transitions, we have decided to delay the start of our women's golf program for one academic year," Vice Provost for Student Formation and Community Engagement Jeff Jordan said. "Although this is disappointing, we believe that finalizing other decisions first is crucial for this program and others in SPU Athletics."
Since the addition of women's golf to the conference in 2010-11, six GNAC teams have achieved top-10 regional finishes. Western Washington has four of those finishes, led by a third-place finish in 2011. That same year, the Vikings placed 11th at the Division II Championships, the highest for a GNAC team to date.
The Pacific Northwest provides the opportunity to play golf year-round in a variety of conditions. The Falcons haven’t found a home course yet. The team is expected to play at some of the best courses in the greater Seattle area.
The longtime home for the GNAC Golf Championships, the Coeur d’Alene Resort Course, provides conference players the chance to compete at one of the most unique courses in the Northwest. The course includes the famous “floating green” on the 14th hole, the only manmade floating green in the U.S.
The quality of play in the GNAC has been its strongest in the last few years. Three conference players have earned selection as Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-Americans since 2019 and four have been recognized as WGCA Scholar All-Americans.
The SPU athletic department plans to build a state-of-the-art indoor golf facility to help the team prepare for the competition. It will be made in what’s known as the northeast annex of Royal Brougham Pavilion. Seattle Pacific’s goal is to build an indoor practice facility that is one of the best in the conference and the western region.
“SPU Athletics is committed to our mission and we feel that this addition will only strengthen the ability we all have to impact student-athlete development, but also make a competitive impact in our region, our conference, and at the NCAA level,” Stava added. “I am very excited about the support gained already in preparing to build an indoor practice facility that will differentiate us from our peers in the GNAC. SPU women’s golf has a great future.”
A national search for the inaugural SPU women’s golf coach begins Nov. 1.