2008 Men's and Women's Spring Golf Outlook

Men

Going into the 2008 spring season, Pacific Lutheran hopes to improve upon its third-place finish in last year's Northwest Conference race.

Senior Chris Packard and junior Jason Casey lead the Pacific Lutheran men's team into the 2008 spring season. Casey had a strong 2007 spring season, winning the Pacific Invitational, placing second at the Willamette Invitational, and tying for second at the Northwest Conference Championships, a finish that earned him all-conference honors. Packard tied for medalist honors at the UPS Logger Invitational in March and later tied for fifth at the conference tournament. He also comes into the spring season having put together an outstanding fall campaign in which he tied for second at the North Division Fall Classic and later won medalist honors at the NWC Men's Fall Classic. He won that tournament by five strokes and carded a second-day 69 for a two-round total of 143.

Other top returnees whose experience should aid the team's hopes are junior Brian Erickson and sophomore Barrett Stamps and Kyle Spitzer. The team's top newcomer is Adam Story, and rounding out the squad is freshman Cody Navarro.

The Lutes will have to find a way to overcome the loss of Brian Misterek, a former conference tournament medalist who was among the NWC's top players throughout his four-year career.

Women

The PLU women's team hopes to improve upon its sixth-place finish at the 2007 Northwest Conference tournament. Leading the charge will be senior Angela Grossklaus, who earned all-conference honors after placing fourth at the 2007 NWC tournament. Grossklaus had a solid fall season capped by consecutive rounds of 82 and a third-place finish at the Northwest conference Women's Fall Golf Classic.

Sophomore Kayla Madsen had a solid showing spring in her first conference tournament, finishing second among the Lutes, and she will give the Lutes another strong component in the push to improve on 2007. In fact, Madsen scored five strokes better than Grossklaus at the NWC North Division Fall Classic held in October, so she and Grossklaus give the Lutes a solid 1-2 punch. Two other players with spring season experience include juniors Lauren Emmerson and Mallory Mueller, the latter who shot a solid 191 at the Fall Classic.

Among the top newcomers are two freshmen, Hilari Haase and Kindra Stamps, who showed during the fall that they are both solid players despite their short stature. Haase measures 5-2 and Stamps is 4-10.