STURTEVANT, Wis. - The University of Northwestern Women's Golf team began its 2025-26 season with high expectations and aspirations on Friday, taking part in the two-day Ives Grove Firebird Women's Fall Classic. The back-to-back Upper Midwest Athletic Conference champion, coming off its best finish at NCAA nationals in program history, has its entire roster back from a year ago, in addition to a talented freshman class. Friday was the commencement of what Head Coach Billy Aune hopes is another special season. You can follow along with the live tournament scoring here.

Day One

Despite the program's two best golfers in its history returning, it was the rookies who stole the show on Friday at Ives Grove Golf Course. Brielle Lenz (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield) made birdies on holes one, eight, 10, 12 and 17 en route to a debut score of 78 (+6), which puts her in eighth place as an individual heading into Saturday's final round. One shot behind Lenz was her classmate, Bri Brandt (Blaine, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy), who birdied holes 10 and 14 on her way to a 79 (+7), good for 10th place with 18 holes to play. Paige Johnson (Zimmerman, Minn./Homeschool) began her season with a birdie on the first hole and turned in an 82 (+10, 23rd place), while Morgan Eckman (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) carded an 83 (+11, 29th place). Ellie Rolland (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) closed out UNW's scoring with a 92 (+20, 67th place).

The Eagles will be back at it on Saturday as they try to chase down Aurora University, who is in first place as a team with a four-player score of +19. Northwestern is in third place in the 18-team field at +34, just one shot behind second-place UW-Whitewater.

Day Two
 
After a successful team effort on day one of the Ives Grove Firebird Women's Fall Classic, things turned historic for the UNW women in Saturday's final round. The team put up a score of 308 to finish in second place, shattering the previous program record of 318, set in 2023. Morgan Eckman (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) was a part of both of those records, and turned in an historic showing herself on Saturday, breaking her own program best for low individual round with a 72 (E). The junior birdied holes five and six to shoot a -1, 35 on the front nine, before turning in a 37 on the back. Her two-day total of +11 tied her for seventh place among individuals and tied for the lowest individual round of the tournament.
 
Bri Brandt (Blaine, Minn./Legacy Christian Academy) tied Eckman for seventh place in her first collegiate tournament, following up Friday's 79 with a 76 (+4), birdieing the 18^th. Ellie Rolland (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) bounced back on Saturday with a 78 (+6), dismantling her previous career-best of 87. Paige Johnson (Zimmerman, Minn./Homeschool), the final Eagle who counted toward the team score, was steady again with an 82 (+10), which placed her 23^rd. Brielle Lenz (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield), who fired a team-low 78 in round one, carded an 84 (+12) on Saturday to wrap up her first collegiate event.
 
Up Next
 
Northwestern will look to ride the momentum of a memorable weekend on Tuesday when it hosts the UNW Invite at Fox Hollow Golf Club in St. Michael.