Hope College | Athletics

Women's intercollegiate golf was launched at Hope College in 1991. The Flying Dutch were the first champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). In the decade of the 1990s Hope brought home the MIAA's first place trophy five times.

Lisa Stover '94 and Ellen Colenbrander '00 were each a three-time MIAA medalist and Division III All-American. Stover finished fifth at the 1994 tournament of the National Golf Coaches Association while Colenbrander was an NCAA All-American twice, finishing seventh in 1998 and eighth in 2000. Colenbrander qualified for nationals four consecutive years. Stover and Colenbrander were also Academic All-Americans.

Three years after her sister competed at nationals, Emily Colenbrander '03 repeated the fete by gaining a berth at the NCAA Division III championships.

Lacey Wicksall '04 was named the 2001 Division III national freshman of the year. She qualified for the NCAA championships three times in her career.

The 2006 fall season had an inauspicious ending. Enroute to the season-ending conference tournament, the team was involved in an auto accident that prevented them from continuing on. Coach Eva Dean Folkert and one of the team members suffered minor injuries in the accident. Hope ranked in sixth place entering the tournament. The MIAA Governing Board later voted to keep Hope at sixth place in the final standings.

Freshman Caitlin McDougall shot the first ace of her golfing career on the par three 12th hole (130 yards) of the Macatawa Legends golf course. The ace came in her first collegiate match on August 30, 2008.

For the first time in school history, the Flying Dutch were nationally ranked in the Division III poll of Golf World magazine, placing 25th.