Lauren Weaver has helped put Northwestern back on the map.
The senior has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Championships in each of her first three seasons at NU. She holds the program records for lowest round, lowest single season scoring average and lowest career scoring average.
Coach Emily Fletcher told NUsports.com that Weaver is “a competitor,” and she expects the senior will play an important role this spring.
“She is so competitive and I feel like once the gun goes off and once we put the team on the ground, she’ll find a way to sort of count for us and sort of grind it out,” Fletcher told NUsports.com. “She is excited. I can’t tell you the number of times she’s texted me or we’ve talked and she’s super excited about these last three of four months and being able to go out and accomplish great things.”
Weaver will be one of two upperclassmen along with junior Devon Brown who will compete for the Cats this spring. NU will bring six golfers to every event even though most events only allow five golfers to be a part of the official team, because at the Big Ten Championships, six golfers will comprise the team with only four scores counting.
Fletcher told NUsports.com she expects to bring three freshmen, along with sophomore Hana Lee, Brown and Weaver to the three remaining spring tournaments to help prepare the team for the conference championships.
The Cats have already competed in one tournament this spring in Puerto Rico. NU finished in a tie for ninth as a team led by freshman Kaitlin Park who finished in a tie for fifth. Park has had an impressive start to her NU career, with the second-best scoring average among those who have played in all five events so far. Fletcher told NUsports.com Park plays above her age level with two top-10 finishes already in her career.
“She’s an extremely hard worker and she’s a tremendous player,” Fletcher told NUsports.com. “She’s done a good job at settling into school and adjusting. She’s someone, as a freshman, that doesn’t look like a freshman out there on the golf course. She really stays in control and what I love about Kaitlin is, when she’s playing well, she’s not just trying to hurry up the hole, she’s trying to get as many under-par as she can.”
