Decatur, IL – The Millikin University Women's Golf team looks to continue climbing the standings during the 2026-27 season, as the Big Blue come off of a campaign which saw Millikin place fifth in the CCIW Championships.
Millikin's fifth place mark was still an improvement, two-slots higher than their fall of 2024 finish. The Big Blue saw several season highs throughout the schedule, including a third-place finish at the CCIW Preview in the fall. Millikin was led by Ava Hackman, who collected a 20-round average of 82.35, the lowest on the roster.
This season, Millikin will open play with an exhibition round, before their official season opener at the Highland Classic on September 5th and 6th. The CCIW schedule remains a short one in the fall, with just 26 days between the first drive in Rock Island, Illinois, and the tee-times of the CCIW Championship on October 1st. The road to the three-round championship tournament will include stops at the CCIW Preview on September 10th, and the IWU Fall Classic (September 19th and 20th). After the championships, Millikin will round out their fall schedule in Destin, Florida at the Golfweek October Classic, which stacks up to be a competitive event with some of the top teams in the nation attending.
In the spring of 2027, the Millikin women will play four tournaments, the Port City Classic (March 8-9), the Wash U Spring Invite (March 21-22), Millikin's home tournament the Dechert Classic (April 4-5), and the Kathy Neipagen Spring Fling (April 10-11)
In addition to 11 returners, the Big Blue will add five new faces to the team in 2026. Millikin's lone key departure was Jenny Brooks, who graduated after posting the seventh lowest scoring average on the team through her 10 rounds played. In early action, it's Lindsay Jackson who has started strong. The freshman has been fighting at the front of the pack during early intrasquad qualifying rounds.
The Big Blue return the top six average scorers from their 2025-26 squad in Hackman, Zoey Beard, Ruby Haegen, Madelyn Beck, Jaryn Haarmann, and Kelis Morris. The six combined for seven top 10 individual finishes, and each posted a season-low round of 80 or less. Morris held the lowest single round by any Big Blue women's golfer last year at 76.
Sam Osborne, a 2010 Millikin graduate, returns for his 16th season leading the Millikin golf programs in the fall of 2026. He is joined by new assistant coach Yui Srichantamit. A native of Khon Kaen, Thailand, she joins the Big Blue staff after two seasons serving as a graduate assistant at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University. Also returning to Osborne's 2026 staff is Hannah Harpster, and Millikin adds student assistant Will Haegen to the staff.
"This is an exciting time for our women's program. Returning our top six scorers is great, and we're pleased to have added competitive depth to our roster with this recruiting class. It's always good to have more young women in the mix, pushing one-another to improve." said Osborne. "We're going to be playing a tougher schedule than last year. Going to Port City and Golfweek, we'll get to see some of the top teams in the country. If this group puts it all together, we have the pieces to really make some noise and take a jump forward as a program."
Millikin will open their season with an exhibition contest at the Charger Classic in Galesburg, Illinois on August 29.
