Iowa State Cyclones women's golf

The Iowa State Cyclones women's golf team represents Iowa State University (ISU) and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The team is coached by Christie Martens, she is in her 17th year at Iowa State. The Cyclones play their home meets at Veenker Memorial Golf Course on Iowa State's campus.

History

The Iowa State women's golf team first got it start in 1972, initially competing in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Off the heels of their hot start the Cyclones appeared in three AIAW Championships in their first 12 years of existence, finishing top 25 each time. During these early year individual success was highlighted by Barb Thomas, the high point of her career at ISU was becoming the first and only women's golf All-American in program history. Thomas would go on to have an 18-year career on the LPGA Tour.

After almost a decade of struggles Iowa State again flourished under coach Julie Manning. They reached the NCAA Regional four straight years from 1993-1996 in addition to their first and only Big Eight conference championship in 1993. Two individual successes during this time period were Beth Bader and Shelly Finnestad. Bader still holds the record for most top-10 and top-five finishes as a Cyclone with 24 and 12 respectively. She would finish second in the 1993 Big Eight conference championship to Shelly Finnestad before going on to having a 13-year LPGA Tour career. Finnestad's 1993 conference title remains the only Cyclone championship to date.

After another lull in success coach Christie Martens has taken the Cyclones to new heights. In her 17th year at Iowa State she is currently on a streak of seven straight NCAA regional appearances, including finishing 23rd overall at the 2014 NCAA National Championship. Some of the individual successes under her leadership include Punpaka Phuntumabamrung finishing as runner-up at the 2013 Big 12 Tournament and Chonlada Chayanun tying for seventh overall at the 2014 NCAA tournament.

In 2022, Ruby Chou became the first Iowa State player to individually qualify for the championship with an Iowa State Regional record of 211. She was soon joined by her teammate, Taglao Jeeravivitaporn, who defeated Northwestern's Jieni Li in a playoff for the second spot.

Record Record by Year Year Conference Finish National Tournament Finish1975Big Eight5thAIAW Championship17th1976Big Eight6th1977Big Eight6th1978Big Eight6th1979Big Eight5th1980Big Eight4th1981Big Eight5th1982Big Eight5thAIAW Championship23rd1983Big Eight6th1984Big Eight5th1985Big Eight5th1986Big Eight4th1987Big EightT-5th1988Big Eight6th1989Big Eight6th1990Big Eight6th1991Big Eight6th1992Big Eight6th1993Big Eight1stNCAA East Regional11th1994Big Eight3rdNCAA East Regional19th1995Big Eight2ndNCAA East Regional18th1996Big Eight2ndNCAA East Regional15th1997Big 1211th1998Big 128th1999Big 1210th2000Big 1211th2001Big 1210th2002Big 125th2003Big 129th2004Big 1211th2005Big 1212th2006Big 128th2007Big 1212th2008Big 129th2009Big 128th2010Big 124thNCAA West Regional10th2011Big 124thNCAA West Regional10th2012Big 124thNCAA West RegionalT14th2013Big 123rdNCAA Central Regional16th2014Big 12T-4thNCAA Championship23rd2015Big 12T-4thNCAA Raleigh RegionalT-10th2016Big 124thNCAA Shoal Creek RegionalT-13th2017Big 122ndNCAA Lubbock Regional10th2018Big 124thNCAA Madison Regional10th2019Big 128thNCAA Cle Elum Regional11th2021Big 128thNCAA Stanford Regional14th2022Big 124thNCAA Stanford Regional9th

All-conference selections

All-Conference Selections Year Name1980 Barb Thomas1982 Dawn Kain1984 Connie Carlson1986 Joan Fails1993 Shelley Finnestad1993 Maureen Roushar1993 Beth Bader1993 Missy Arthur1994 Beth Bader1994 Missy Arthur1995 Janea Carter1996 Holly Duncan1996 Fiona Watson2005 Louise Kenney2006 Jessica Shin2010 Punpaka Phuntumabamrung2010 Laurence Herman2010 Pennapa Pulsawath

All-Conference Selections Year Name2011 Victoria Stefansen2011 Laurence Herman2011 Sasikarn On-iam2011 Prima Thammaraks2012 Punpaka Phuntumabamrung2013 Punpaka Phuntumabamrung2014 Sasikarn On-iam2014 Chonlada Chayanun2015 Chonlada Chayanun2015 Cajsa Persson2015 Nattapan Siritrai2015 Celia Barquín2015 Cajsa Persson2016 Celia Barquín2016 Chayanit Wangmahaporn

Veenker Memorial Golf Course

Named for George F. Veenker, head football coach at Iowa State from 1931 to 1936. He was also Athletic Director from 1933 until 1945. The golf course was completed in 1938 and given its current name in 1959.

The 6,543-yard, par-72, George Veenker Memorial Golf Course is located just two blocks north of the Iowa State campus. The 18-hole course was constructed in 1938 from the design of world-renowned golf course architect, Perry Maxwell (re-designer of the seventh and 10th holes at Augusta National Golf Club in 1937). The golf course was built with WPA and Athletic Council funds, and cost $122,373. The course hosted the conference championships in 1982 and 1989, two regional AIAW championships, and hosts the annual Iowa Masters Championship. It also hosted the 1949 NCAA national championship, in which Arnold Palmer was a participant.

The team practices at the newly opened $2 million Golf Performance Center located three miles from campus. The 16-acre facility was designed by world renowned architech Keith Foster to be used exclusively by the Iowa State men's and women's golf team.

References

External links Veenker Memorial Golf Course