SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana women's golf team opens the 2023-24 season on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Central Region Fall Preview in Blue Springs, Missouri. The defending NSIC Champion and national qualifying team will tee off in an event with 18 teams. Here are five things to know about the Vikings.
 
Events
The Vikings have traditionally split up the fall and spring seasons with five scheduled tournaments each. That is the case in the front half of the year as AU is slated to play in five events with two of them serving as "region" previews. Following the season opener, AU travels to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for the Central Region Preview Sept. 25-26. The fall closes with the Mustang Invite, USF Invite and Midwest Classic.
 
Preseason Poll
Augustana again topped the NSIC Preseason Coaches' poll after winning its 13^th conference title in 14 years last season. The Vikings were the unanimous pick behind all five point scorers returning for 2023-24.
 
Molly Stevens
There's not much left for senior Molly Stevens to accomplish after earning back-to-back NSIC Golfer of the Year honors. She was named the preseason favorite again after earning all-region accolades last year. Over 79 rounds of collegiate golf, the Northfield, Minnesota, native averages 77.2 strokes per round. However, last season she shot a career-best 75.59 shots per round, a 1.5-stroke improvement from 2021-22.
 
The Vikings
In addition to Stevens returning, Augustana also returns two other First Team All-NSIC performers in Lauren Tims and Lanie Veenendall. Tims ranked third in the league with 77.4 strokes per round while Veenendall was fourth at 77.5. Augustana also returns Shannon McCormick and Masy Mock, who were both in the top-10 for strokes per round a year ago at 78.1 and 78.5, respectively.  
 
Augustana welcomed one new golfer to its roster in freshman Mattie Weidenbach, a product of Harrisburg High School.
 
Quotable
"The 'Road to Orlando' starts this week. We have a few holes to play and a lot of purposeful practice between now and May, but this is where it all starts. This season-opener is traditionally a good field of teams and we all want to see where everyone stacks up. Our team has been busy all summer getting stronger and they've worked hard on their game. My excitement is to coach and the student-athlete's eagerness to play is energetic," Augustana head coach Coralee Jorgenson.