With the season about to begin on Sept. 8, it is time to meet the WSU Women’s Golf Team!
The team welcomes new head coach Kevin Tucker, a former Coug who has been a men’s golf assistant for the past six years. Tucker competed at the NCAA Regional Competition twice as a member of the men’s golf team and worked his way up to being the men’s golf associate head coach in 2023.
“It’s a true honor to be the next women’s golf head coach,” Tucker told WSU Athletics. “I’m a Coug through and through, and coaching at my alma mater…is a dream come true.”
Tucker replaces Sofie Aagaard, who left WSU to become the head coach for the University of California-Berkeley in June. He is joined by assistant coach Julia Goodson, who is back for her second year with the program.
“I’m a little nervous, but nervous in a good way,” said Tucker on his first tournament as head coach. “I’m excited to start this new challenge.”
This year’s team is very young, with only three upperclassmen. They will be led by senior Madelyn Gamble, who returns for her fourth and final season with WSU. Gamble scored an average of 73.22 last year, the third-best average score in WSU history. She was WSU’s lone representative at the NCAA Regional Tournament in Cle Elum, where she finished 54th overall. That came a year after her 2023 Pac-12 Championship performance when she finished in third place, the highest finish ever for a Coug golfer in the Pac-12 tournament.
“I’m looking forward to keep enjoying what I’m doing…I’ve had a great time at WSU,” said Gamble on beginning her final season as a Cougar. “I want to play well, stick to my processes…control what I can control, and enjoy it.”
She is joined by Danish senior Sarah Skovgaard-Blis. Skovgaard-Blis has played in 17 tournaments as a Coug over the past three years and capped off her 2024 season with a top-40 finish at the Pac-12 Championships.
Hannah Harrison is the lone junior on the team. Harrison competed in the 2023 Pac-12 Championships as a true freshman, and last year, she showed glimpses of why. While she averaged a score of 77.56, she twice posted a low score of 73 and flashed potential in her second year with the team. If the Cougars find success in 2024-25, Harrison will likely be a major reason why.
Sophomore Alice Johansson is also back with the Cougars after a successful freshman year. The native of Bollnas, Sweden scored an average of 74.03, competing in ten tournaments. Her best tournament was The Molly, where she scored 9-under par, setting a program record for a 54-hole tournament.
Columbian-born Sara Pineros played only four tournaments in her sophomore year, averaging 78.75. She is likely to see more action in year two, with some experience under her belt.
The team is rounded out by a pair of freshmen, Agnes Brink and Grace Rubelsky.
“They’re very additive to our culture,” said Tucker on his newest team members. “They have a lot of talent, really high golf IQs..”
The team began practicing when school began, and Tucker has been impressed with their work ethic.
“It’s been great..we’ve had a few practices and the scores have been great…everyone is ready to compete.”
Tucker and Gamble have stuck with the team’s unofficial motto of ‘One Day Better,’ a phrase that both the men’s and women’s golf teams have adopted from their sports psychologist.
“I think it’s a good philosophy to live by, especially as a golfer. We can get consumed by results pretty easily, so we’re just trying to get one day better every day,” said Tucker.
“Getting one day better every day, if I do that I know I’ll see results in other areas,” Gamble echoed.
She made it clear that the women are a tight-knit unit.
“I’m really lucky to say my teammates are my best friends.”
