The Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) recently announced the Kentucky Wesleyan College women’s golf program has earned the 2020 Mark Laesch Award.
Teams from all NCAA divisions were recognized based on improvement in adjusted stroke average per individual per round from the 2018-19 to 2019-20 seasons.
The Division II Panthers recorded a 31.25 stroke average improvement this season to earn their first Mark Laesch award.
“We are genuinely honored,” head coach Ken Badylak said. “The players can always look at the Laesch Award and know their effort did not go unnoticed. Other than our academic achievements, this is the single most important award for our program because it justifies hard work.”
Overall Wesleyan finished with a 349.17 adjusted scoring average.
Samantha Yake posted a team-best scoring average of 86. Yake posted a low of 80 in the first round of the Bearcat Intercollegiate in October. Scout Pope had a 10-shot improvement, dropping her scoring average to 90.
Kaelin Rice showed a three-shot improvement, while newcomers Erin Sexsmith and Maddie Zimmerman completed their first seasons with an 87 scoring average. Hayley Frost finished with a scoring average of 94, a five-shot improvement from her first year.
The Panthers season was cut short in March due to COVID-19.
