The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women’s golf team, which is headed by Coach Dave Taebel and Coach Jay Farmer, is looking forward to the start of their spring season. Coach Taebel is entering his third year as a head coach for the Eagles, with women’s golf being reinstated as a varsity sport on UWL’s campus after its suspension in the 1982-83 season. Coach Farmer enters his second season as a coach for the Eagles.  

As for team values, the student-athletes said that while golf is seen as an individual sport, the sense of family is a driving force behind them. 

UWL senior Maggie Lang said, “We really push each other to be our best, and we depend on each other on and off the course.” Lang was named to the All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sportsmanship Team in the 2019-2020 season.  

Coach Taebel sees this family and community as an important value for the team as well. “As a father who has sent kids off to college, just trying to be a support system and a family for everyone is really important,” said Taebel. 

 UWL junior Maija Tanberg also says that the team, while close and family-like, also enjoys competition and pushing each other to be their best. Tanberg was able to finish in the top-13 in all six tournaments by the end of the 2019-2020 season, including an individual title win at the Viterbo/UWL invitational on Sep. 7 and Sep. 8, 2019. 

With the fall 2020 season being canceled due to COVID-19 for women’s golf, Coach Taebel says the team has been able to focus on areas for growth that they would not normally have been able to. This includes course management and mindset training to improve the student-athletes overall game.  

Coach Farmer has seen this mindset training as a way to create goals for the student-athletes to carry into their season.  

“Really, when we talk about goals, we are trying to adopt a mindset where you can get better. If you can do one little thing each day, you can get to where you want to be,” said Farmer. 

For other goals within this spring season, UWL junior Haley Dunn says that continuing to have a strong team GPA, or even having the highest team GPA, out of all varsity teams is a big goal for women’s golf.  

While COVID-19 has impacted their season, Lang says that many of the student-athletes were able to get out on their own and continue to practice their game, even from their hometowns, as being outside and socially distanced is feasible on a golf course. Lang also says that mental training has been beneficial as a team. 

“Without COVID-19, we would not have been able to focus on the mental aspect. This is a good thing, as a student-athlete and as a young woman,” said Lang.

The UWL women’s golf team begins their spring season on March 27 in Houston, Minnesota at Valley High Golf Course.