Portland State's Women's Golf Team begins practice today as it prepares for the 2017-18 season. The Vikings return four letterwinners and have three newcomers under fifth-year Head Coach Kailin Downs. 

After a dramatic improvement last season, the Vikings are still a young team with a great future and growth ahead. PSU finished third in the Big Sky Conference in 2016-17, and also set a team scoring record along the way (301.1 strokes per round).

PSU will play an 18-hole match this Sunday at Langdon Farms with George Fox University, opening their competitive season. It will be an individual competition with no team scores counting. All seven Viking players will be able to compete.

That event opens a schedule including 10 in-season tournaments prior to the Big Sky Conference Championship next April 20-22. The Vikings play four tournaments this fall, including hosting the eighth annual Rose City Collegiate, Sept. 25-26 at Langdon Farms.

"I love the fall season because the players are all fired up and ready to go after their summer competitions," said Downs. "They have been playing and practicing in great weather and typically come in ready to compete. We will jump right in with some qualifying rounds and practices focused on short game. And we hit the ground running as we go on the road in a week." 

PSU's first full tournament is Sept. 17-19 at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, CO.

Portland State will also co-host a tournament next spring with Eastern Washington. That event takes place Mar. 27-29 at Ocotillo Golf Club in Chandler, AZ.

VIKING SEASON PREVIEW
If all goes to plan, the trend will continue for Portland State Women's Golf. With an infusion of young talent, the Viking women jumped from 10th in the Big Sky Conference two years ago to third last season. In addition, the Vikings set a new school record for team scoring average (301.1) while tying school records for a single round (287) and a 36-hole tournament (593). Those feats were accomplished with two freshmen, two sophomores and a lone senior making virtually all of the starts.

The Viking team that showed so much growth in 2016-17, will be young and talented once again in 2017-18.

"We had some fantastic individual and team improvements last year, breaking some records along the way," said Viking Coach Kailin Downs. "I anticipate, with the return of four players and the talent we have coming in, we will see continued improvement and success."

Four young starters return, two of whom earned second team All-Big Sky Conference (Tara Finigan and Valerie Hernandez) and one who was honorable mention All-Big Sky (Jasmine Cabajar). Add in Carson Pickett, who improved her game by three shots per round in 2016-17, and Downs, now in her fifth season, has a great group with which to start.

Finigan (74.76 strokes per round) and Pickett (81.50) are just juniors, while Hernandez (75.51) and Cabajar (76.03) are only sophomores. 

Finigan won a pair of titles last season with the Concordia Invitational and the Grand Canyon Spring Invitational. The Vikings also took the team title in those two events. Finigan's 74.76 scoring average ranks third-best in school history. It was also a two-stroke improvement over her freshman season. That gain indicates Finigan, who has only played competitively for five seasons, still has room for growth in her game.

Hernandez had a banner season of her own, establishing a new freshman scoring record for Portland State. A native of Bogota, Colombia, Hernandez showed her ability to go low, posting three scores in the 60s.

Cabajar may be the Vikings' steadiest player. She shot a season-low 70, gradually improved her scoring average over the course of the season, and never shot more than 80 in a single round.

Pickett stepped into the starting lineup during the spring season and was able to contribute some scores as she improved as well.

The Vikings lost only one player, senior Krissy Peterson who had a 75.61 scoring average over the past two years. Peterson is a talented player to replace, but Downs has added three new players to the roster for the coming season. 

Senior transfer Hannah Swanson played three seasons at Oregon State compiling a 77.43 stroke average. After winning the Oregon Women's Stroke Play Championship in 2016, Swanson averaged 77.00 strokes her junior season at OSU. She has played at a high level in the Pac-12 and brings the most experience to the team.

"I expect, without a doubt, that Hannah will step right in as a leader both on and off the course. She brings experience as a senior and having played a competitive Pac-12 schedule, she will be a great addition to the lineup," said Downs.

Two freshmen signed with the Vikings last fall, Iliana Telles and Yun-Chu "Windy" Huang. Telles, a talented golfer at The Dalles High School, missed her senior season after suffering a knee injury playing basketball. Huang has a vast amount of experience in international competition. Those two, along with Swanson, will provide good competition for starting roles with the four returning players.

"Windy has strength and length off the tee and we will focus on fine tuning her short game and course management," said Downs. "Iliana is just returning to the full swing after recovering from her injury. I'm sure they will both be firing on all cylinders very soon."