Flying Dutch Ranked 16th Nationally (10/28/09)
The Flying Dutch are ranked 16th nationally among NCAA Division III women's golf teams after the fall season. It is the best national ranking for a Flying Dutch golf team in school history. The previous best was 25th in 2008-09. The poll is conducted by the magazine Golf World and the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA). The Flying Dutch are one of three teams from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) to be ranked nationally joining Saint Mary's (#3) and Olivet (#10).

Flying Dutch End Third in MIAA Standings (10/10/09)
The Flying Dutch ended third in the MIAA standings for the second straight years after finishing third in an abbreviated conference tournament round on Saturday. The opening 18 hole round on Friday was washed out. On Saturday Saint Mary's clinched the league championship. Hope finished 15 strokes behind on the day. Three Hope golfers received All-MIAA second team recognition -- Charlotte Park, a freshman from Grosse Pointe; Megan Scholten, a sophomore from Grand Rapids/GR Christian HS and Cassie Sneller, a senior from Holland/Hamilton HS.

Megan Scholten is Jamboree Medalist (10/3/09)
Hope sophomore Megan Scholten captured medalist honors with an MIAA course-record round as the Flying Dutch finished third in the MIAA Jamboree hosted by Saint Mary's on Saturday at the Blackthorn golf course. Scholten was one stroke better than the previous course mark with a 38-39--77. Saint Mary's maintained its lead in the seasonal standings by winning the Jamboree at 327 strokes, followed by Olivet 329, Hope 331, Trine 356, Calvin 358, Albion 367, Alma 374, Kalamazoo 389, and Adrian 402. Scores of other Hope golfers were Charlotte Park 82, Cassie Sneller 84, Lauren Zandstra 88, and Emily Atsma 89. Hope remains in third place in the seasonal standings.

Flying Dutch Third at MIAA Jamboree (10/1/09)
For the third straight time the Flying Dutch have finished third in a conference tournament to remain in third place midway through the MIAA season. Coach Greg Stafford's Flying Dutch ended 23 strokes off the pace in Thursday's tournament at the Milham golf course hosted by Kalamazoo. Through three of six rounds the Flying Dutch trail frontrunner Saint Mary's by 60 strokes.

Saint Mary's finished at 325 strokes in Thursday's round followed by Olivet 329, Hope 348, Calvin 372, Trine 373, Kalamazoo 391, Albion 392, Alma 405 and Adrian 417. The medalist was Martyna Mierzwa of Saint Mary's at 74. Leading Hope was Charlotte Park at 84 followed by Emily Atsma 87, Lauren Zandstra 88, Megan Scholten 89 and Cassie Sneller 92.

The seasonal standings are Saint Mary's 964, Olivet 979, Hope 1,024, Trine 1,088, Calvin 1,123, Albion 1,136, Alma 1,179, and Adrian 1,237.

Flying Dutch Second at Invitational (9/26/09)
Results
The Flying Dutch finished second in the eight-team Pilot Invitational. Host Bethel College led the field with a two-day total of 650 strokes. Hope finished with 655. Captain Cassie Sneller finished third in the player standings at 81-80-- 161. Scores of other Hope golfers were Megan Scholten 85-78--163, Emily Atsma 77-87--164, Charlotte Park 83-84--167 and Sasha Burau 90-92--182.

Flying Dutch Third in MIAA Jamboree (9/23/09)
Jamboree Scores / MIAA Standings
The Flying Dutch finished third in the MIAA Jamboree they hosted Wednesday at the Macatawa Legends golf course. Olivet won the meet with a course record 318. Hope's third place score of 335 also eclipsed the former course mark of 341. The medalist was Megan Rimmel of Olivet with a course record 75. Leading Hope was Charlotte Park whose 81 was two strokes better than the old course record. Scores of other Hope golfers were Cassie Sneller 82, Sasha Burau 86, Emily Atsma 86 and Megan Scholten 89. Saint Mary's continues to top the standings while the Flying Dutch are 37 strokes behind in third place.

Flying Dutch Third in MIAA Jamboree (9/17/09)
The Flying Dutch finished third in the season's first MIAA Jamboree held Thursday at The Medalist golf course. Saint Mary's led the field over the 18-hole jamboree at 317 strokes followed by Olivet 332, Hope 341, Trine 354, 5. Albion 371, 6. Kalamazoo 377, 7. Calvin 389, 8. Alma 404 and Adrian 412.

Sharting medalist honors were Martyna Mierzwa of Saint Mary's and Katlyn Pero of Trine at 76 strokes. Leading Hope was Megan Scholten who was seventh in the field at 39-44--83. Scores of other Hope golfers were Cassie Sneller 39-46--85, Sasha Burau 43-43--86, Charlotte Park 42-45--87 and Lauren Zandstra 45-44--89.

Hope Wins Olivet Invitational (9/12/09)
Results
The Flying Dutch topped a 15-team field to capture the Olivet Fall Invitational played Friday and Saturday at The Medalist Golf Club. Coach Greg Stafford's Dutch finished one stroke ahead of host and defending MIAA champion Olivet, 658-659. Scores of Hope golfers over the 36-hole competition were Megan Scholten 77-79--156, Cassie Sneller 79-78--157, Lauren Zandstra 89-82--171, Charlotte Park 87-87--174 and Andrea MCarty 91-92--183.

Flying Dutch Lead Invitational (9/12/09)
Tournament Results
The Flying Dutch are leading a field of 15 teams after the first day of play at the Olivet Invitational. Coach Greg Stafford's Dutch have a one stroke lead (332-333) over host Olivet entering today's second 18-hole round at The Medalist golf club in Marshall. Olivet's Amber Conrad tops the player standings after shooting a 74. Leading Hope and in third place is sophomore Megan Scholten at 77 while senior captain Cassie Sneller follows in fourth place with a 79.Scores of other Hope golfers were Charlotte Park 87, Lauren Zandstra 89 and Andrea McCarty 91.

Flying Dutch 12th in Opener (9/5/09)
Tournament Results
The Flying Dutch finished 12th in a field of 18 teams at the season-opening Bulldog Invitational hosted by Ferris State at the Katke Golf Course. Division II Grand Valley State won the 36-hole tournament. Leading Hope was sophomore Megan Scholten who was 22nd place in a field of 106 golfers with rounds of 83-76--159. Scores of other Hope golfers were Cassie Sneller 86-87--173, Charlotte Park 83-90--173, Shali Clark 86-92--178, Lauren Zandstra 89-89--178, Andrea McCarty 92-89--181 and Emily Atsma 93-93--186.

Flying Dutch Ranked in Pre-Season Poll
The Flying Dutch are ranked nationally among NCAA Division III women's golf teams in a pre-season poll of Golf World and the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA).Hope is ranked 23rd in the poll. The top-ranked team is defending national champion Methodist, N.C. The MIAA has three teams ranked in the top 25 with Olivet in 11th place and Saint Mary's 13th. Hope ended the 08-09 season ranked 25th nationally after finishing third in both the regular season MIAA standings and the MIAA's qualifying rounds for the NCAA championships.

The Flying Dutch will continue their climb toward being a title contender in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) under a new head coach.

Greg Stafford, a volunteer assistant coach of the Flying Dutch the past two seasons, succeeds Eva Dean Folkert so that she can devote her time to serving as co-director of athletics.

The 2008 Flying Dutch finished third in the MIAA standings after placing fourth in 2007 and sixth the year before.

The roster includes three freshmen, six sophomores, one junior and one senior.

The lone senior is captain Cassie Sneller of Holland (Hamilton HS). She was also the captain in 2008. Sneller was an All-MIAA second team honoree last fall finishing seventh in the conference player standings at 83.4 strokes per 18-hole round.

Two returning sophomores achieved All-MIAA honors in their first collegiate season. Megan Scholten of Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids Christian HS) was a first team honoree as she placed third in the conference player standings (81.2 strokes per round) while Sasha Burau of Grand Blanc (Grand Blanc HS) received second team recognition behind a 12th place finish (88.4 strokes per round).

Other returning letterwinners include sophomore Emily Atsma of Caledonia (South Christian HS), junior Katie Blodgett of Traverse City (St. Francis HS), sophomore Andrea McCarty of Denver, Colo. (Cherry Creek HS), sophomore Lindsey Springstroh of Lisle, Ill. (Downers Grove North HS), and sophomore Lauren Zandstra of Flushing (Flushing HS).

The Flying Dutch play a fall and spring schedule. The fall schedule, which determines the seasonal MIAA champion, will include four 18-hole jamborees and a 36-hole championship round. The spring schedule, consisting of three 18-hole rounds, determines the MIAA qualifier to the NCAA Division III championships.

Hope’s only home action will be an MIAA Jamboree on Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Flying Dutch Among Nation's Top Academic Performers
The Flying Dutch have been honored as one of the nation's top women's golf squads academically by the the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA). The national group recognized the top 25 teams in all NCAA Divisions (I, II and III) for the best cumulative grade point average (GPA) during the 2008-09 schjool year. The Flying Dutch ranked 15th with a cumulative 3.618 GPA. read

Greg Stafford Named Women's Golf Coach
The appointment of Greg Stafford as coach of the women's golf team has been announced by Mark Northuis, chair of the department of kinesiology.

Stafford, who has served as a volunteer assistant coach of the Flying Dutch the past two years, will succeed Eva Dean Folkert so that she can devote her time to serving as co-director of athletics.

The college recently announced a reorganization of the administration of the athletics department with Folkert and recently hired Tim Schoonveld serving as co-directors.

Folkert served as women's golf coach for four years. The 2008 Flying Dutch finished third in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

"While I will greatly miss being with such wonderful young women on our golf team on a daily basis, I welcome the opportunity to take on collaborative administrative responsibilities with Tim Schoonveld. I trust the appointment of Greg Stafford as our new head women's golf coach will be a seamless transition as he has been very involved with the program for the past two years. Greg is a knowledgeable and highly capable coach and we look forward to his guiding the program successfuly into the future," said Folkert.

Stafford had extensive coaching experience in several sports at Godwin Heights High School over four decades, including both the girl's and boy's varsity golf teams. He started the girl's program at Godwin Heights qualifying the team or players to the MHSAA tournament four consecutive years.

Flying Dutch Finish Third in NCAA Qualifier (4/30/09)
The Flying Dutch were a picture of consistency after finishing third for the third consecutive time in the MIAA's qualifying rounds for the NCAA Division III championships. Saint Mary's gained the MIAA's berth at the NCAA tournament by finishing 17 strokes ahead of regular season champion Olivet over the three spring rounds. Hope ended 63 strokes behind. Coach Eva Folkert's Flying Dutch had also finished third during the MIAA fall schedule.

Flying Dutch Ranked Nationally (10/15/08)
For the first time in the history of the women's golf program, the Flying Dutch were ranked nationally. The Golf World Division III poll, conducted by the National Golf Coaches Association, ranked the Flying Dutch 25th in the nation. Hope finished third in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings this fall. League champion Olivet is ranked 13th in the national poll while runnerup Saint Mary's, Ind. is in 23rd. The top-ranked Division III team is Methodist, N.C.

Flying Dutch 3rd in MIAA; Two are All-MIAA (10/11/08)
The Flying Dutch finished third in the MIAA women's golf seasonal standings behind champion Olivet and runnerup Saint Mary's. Freshman Megan Scholten achieved All-MIAA first team honors finishing third in the seasonal standings while junior captain Cassie Sneller is an All-MIAA second team honoree. Scores of Hope golfers in the season-ending 36-hole tournament held at Bedford Valley CC were Megan Scholten 79-85--164, Cassie Sneller 88-87--175, Lauren Zandstra 91-93--184, Sasha Burau 94-90--184, and Margaret Livingston 101-91--192.