The South Dakota women's golf team will get one final tune-up before the Summit League Championships. The Coyotes will make the short trip down to Elkhorn, Nebraska, for the Stampede at the Creek hosted by Omaha. The tournament will begin on Monday with three rounds in two days. The Stampede at the Creek will take place at Indian Creek Golf Course. With the course being a 27-hole course, both the USD men and women will be playing at the same tournament.

The Coyotes are in a shortened field with eight teams participating in this event. Of those eight teams, five of them are representing the Summit League including USD. South Dakota will get an early look at Western Illinois, South Dakota State St. Thomas, and Omaha before the conference tournament. The teams will play 36 holes on Monday followed by a final round on Tuesday consisting of 18 holes. Monday will be a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. while Tuesday will have tee times beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Head coach Brett Bennett will bring his entire roster to this event. Senior Laerke Jensen, sophomore Akari Hayashi, sophomore Danica Badura, senior Molly Fossen, and freshman Paige Hoffman round out the starting lineup for the Coyotes. Senior Megan Munneke, senior Emma Sabbagh, senior Liz Duncan, and junior Jalea Culliver will all be playing as individuals.

South Dakota is coming off its second consecutive second-place finish at the Diane Daugherty Invite. The Coyotes shot the lowest round of the day out of all 16 teams with a 301 in the third round and finished just seven strokes behind first place Missouri State. It was also the third-lowest round in the two days at Bogey Hills Golf Club in St. Charles, Missouri. USD had three individuals finish in the top five for the first time in program history with Jensen leading the way.

Jensen recorded the highest placement in her career with a runner-up finish. She tied for the most pars scored throughout the tournament with 34 pars and tied for 10th with six birdies in three rounds. Hayashi recorded the second top-five placement of her career with a fourth-place finish at the Diane Daugherty Invite. She finished with the fifth-best scoring average on par fours and third in par fives. She also tied with Jensen for the 10th most birdies during the tournament. Fossen earned the highest placement of her career as a Coyote with a fifth-place finish. She scored the third most birdies among all players with eight during the tournament.

The Coyotes last competed in this tournament nearly a year ago to the day. USD claimed a second-place finish back in April last season. Badura tied for third and Hayashi took eighth for top-10 individual placements for South Dakota.

Fans can hear Molly Fossen and head coach Brett Bennett in the latest edition of Catching Up with Women's Golf as the spring season nears an end. 



Tournament: Stampede at the Creek
Dates: April 11-12
Host: Omaha
Location: Elkhorn, Nebraska
Course: Indian Creek Golf Course
Course Par / Yardage: Par 72 / 5,988 yards
Tournament Field (8): Creighton, Northern Iowa, Omaha, South Dakota, South Dakota State, St. Thomas, Western Illinois, Wisconsin-Green Bay