PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's golf team opens a new era early next week. The Vikings play their first tournament of the 2026-27 season under first-year head coach Kaylee Shimizu Monday and Tuesday at the Wolverine Invitational in Sarasota Springs, Utah.
 
It'll be familiar territory for Shimizu. She was a golfer for tournament-host Utah Valley from 2015-20. She received second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors as a junior for the Wolverines in 2018-19. She led Utah Valley with a career-best 74.75 scoring average before her senior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Shimizu takes over a program that returns five golfers off a team that posted its best finish at the Big Sky tournament in five years. The Vikings placed fourth as a team at their conference tournament while Cynthia Valerie Ong posted a top 10 individual finish behind a program record-tying 67 in the final round.
 
Ong returns for her senior season with the Vikings. So does her sister, Caithlyn Ong, who finished 1-2 with her sister in scoring average last season. Cynthia led the team with a 74.81 scoring average while Caithlyn followed at 76.00. Maddie Dustin, another of the Vikings' returners, ranked third on the team at 76.18.
 
Francesca Tomp and Momo Udom are the two other returners. They ranked sixth and seventh on the team last season with scoring averages of 78.00 and 78.16, respectively.
 
The Vikings will get an early preview of the competition within the Big Sky at the Wolverine Invitational. Besides the Vikings, six other Big Sky teams will play at the tournament, including the conference's two newcomers in Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
 
TAP-INS

• HISTORY: This will be the Vikings' first-ever trip to the Wolverine Invitational.
• BIRDIES (2025-26): Cynthia Valerie Ong: 56 (1 eagle); Caithlyn Ong: 34; Maddie Dustin: 51 (1 eagle); Francesca Tomp: 17; Momo Udom: 15.
• RANKINGS AT PORTLAND STATE: Career scoring average: Cynthia Valerie Ong, 76.10/T-7th; Career under-par rounds: Cynthia Valerie Ong, 6/8th; Career birdies: Cynthia Valerie Ong, 108/13th.

WOLVERINE INVITATIONAL
Date: Sept. 14-15
Course: Talons Cove Golf Club
Par/Yardage: 72/7,096 yards
Live scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/242248/scoring/
Play: Two rounds of 18 holes on Monday, one round of 18 holes Tuesday
Teams Competing: Brigham Young, Cal State Bakersfield, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Portland State, Southern Utah, Utah Tech, Utah Valley, Weber State, Wyoming