SAN FRANCISCO – After concluding their season with an impressive second-place finish at the Pacific West Conference Tournament, recording a top 15 individual finish on 15 occasions, and seeing mass amounts of improvement, Academy of Art women's golf can now look back at all they have accomplished in their 2023-24 campaign. 

"This season overall was a bit of a roller coaster," said Head Coach Beth Allen. "We had a very solid fall season, but struggled to keep it consistent as a unit throughout the year. I always had my eye on the other PacWest schools, and we were able to hang with them throughout the year so I was still confident going into the conference championship that we could make a run at it."

With the season kicking off at the RJGA Shootout At Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz. on Sept. 19, the squad saw a season-best individual single-round score (1-under-par 71) as well as a collective 25-over-par 601 with higher placements than several Colorado schools in their first rounds of action.

Next, finishing in fifth place out of 10 teams at the Sonoma State Fall Invitational on Oct. 3, senior Jae Eun Park led the team in the tournament with her 5-over-par 149, shooting her best single-round individual score of the season with her even-par 72 in the final round of action as she finished tied for 11th place. The team recorded their lowest team score by tournament's end, finishing with a 29-over-par 605 while senior Tessa Geenen shot her lowest single-round score of the season with her 2-over-par 74 on day two.

Just a week later and in what would be the final tournament of the fall semester, the Westmont Invitational, on Oct. 10, the team finished in third place of six teams total as they shot a 35-over-par 612. The squad saw two top 10 finishes at Sandpiper Golf Course including one from sophomore Nicole Yang, as three other Urban Knights shot just a few strokes apart as they all collectively shot within the top 16 of 35 total golfers. The team tied their lowest single-round team score of the season in the tournament, as they shot a collective 13-over-par 301 on the second day of action. 

To start up the spring semester, the team stopped by the Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout on Feb. 27, where they would finalize their scorecard with a 65-over-par 641. This tournament would be the first of freshman Chantel Tsai's career that she came out as the individual leader for the squad, as she put together a 13-over-par 157 overall. 

Following it up at the SMSU Spring Invitational on Mar. 5, the team would finish in fourth place of 12 teams, with Tsai leading the squad for the second straight tournament, while also recording her first career top 10 individual finish. Shooting similar to the freshman were senior Napat "Plern" Rattanaprakarn and Yang, who each ended one stroke behind and earned themselves a tie for a 13th place finish.

Yang would lead the Knights once again in a tournament, this time at the Patriot Invitational on Mar. 19 in Pebble Beach, Calif. Yang finished tied for 11th place individually out of 74 spots with her 12-over-par 225 in the first time the Knights would shoot in three full rounds this season. 

Finishing in fifth place of nine teams at the Sonoma State Spring Invitational on Apr. 9, the team shot 12 strokes better on the second day of action, and concluded the tournament with a 74-over-par 650. Senior Valeria Ruiz shot the best single round and overall score of her campaign, as her 10-over-par 82 contributed towards her 22-over-par 166. Eun Park led the Knights on both days, and wrapped up the tournament with a 15-over-par 159 while Tsai was just two strokes behind by its end.

Wrapping up their season at the Mauna Lani Country Club in Waimea, Hawaii on Apr. 17, the team enjoyed their highest team-finish of the campaign, finishing in second place of seven teams at the PacWest Conference Tournament. Shooting a 65-over-par 929 collectively, the squad had two finish in the top 10 individually, with the pair receiving PacWest All-Tournament Team honors. As the duo ended just a stroke apart from one another, Rattanaprakarn finished tied for sixth place, while Tsai tied for eighth. 

"On reflection, the PacWest Tournament was a great achievement," Allen said. "We worked really hard on our mental games to prepare for the conference championship and I think it really showed, especially with Plern and Nicole who both had fantastic showings. Plern battled really hard in her second and third round to finish in the top 10. Nicole had a great first round and showed her big heart and maturity and ended up finishing really strong and finished in a tie for 11th which was awesome. I know that she will gain a lot of confidence from her performance all season and I am excited to look to her to lead the team next Fall as she will be the most experienced player. Chantel, our super freshman, has been such a wonderful addition to the team on and off of the golf course. For a relatively inexperienced player who only started playing golf five years ago, she has incredible poise. Chantel works really hard and is a competitor so I was not surprised that she thrived in our most pressure packed event of the year but it is still so impressive to finish in the top 10 at conference in her first attempt. I am incredibly proud of what the team as a whole achieved in Hawaii and it was a magnificent way for the four seniors to finish their collegiate careers."

With the season officially wrapped up, the conference office released All-PacWest awards on May 17 to commend the accomplishments of the best performing student athletes of the campaign. Two Knights were included in the announcement, as Tsai was named the PacWest Freshman of the Year while Yang earned herself a spot on the All-PacWest Second Team. 

"I am thrilled for both Chantel and Nicole," Allen said. "Chantel is like the ideal student-athlete. She is like a sponge as she works really hard, learns really quickly, shows she wants to get better, and does all the right things. I'm so pleased that the work she has put in this season has paid off and I know she is going to get better and better from here. Nicole has made big strides this year and she's only a sophomore. To earn All-PacWest Second Team is a big achievement and her game has matured a lot this season. She works just as hard as anybody and I know she wants to get even better from here."

Now gearing ahead towards the 2024-25 season, Allen has already begun to prepare for what is soon to come as she gets set to coach a program with an upcoming new look.

"We are losing four seniors and that will mean the team will lack experience, but I am really confident that these new players will bring a different energy to the team," Allen said. "I will certainly miss Valeria, Plern, Jae, and Tessa and I am so grateful that they helped lead the team in my first years as a head coach. It was a bittersweet day in Hawaii watching them finish, I am so proud of them but equally sad that I won't get to watch them play in red and black anymore. I have been very lucky inheriting some great student-athletes but I am looking forward to having a team full of my own recruits. I have big goals and high expectations for this incoming group and I know that Chantel and Nicole will be great teammates and resources for them. It is hard to predict how incoming players will adjust to college life, but I am really hopeful that we are going to have a strong squad next fall and I am going to do everything that I can to support them, improve their golf games, and win championships. My goal for next year is to win the conference and get to the postseason."