Anneliese Anderson-Caffee

Added Depth a Boon For Golf Squads in 2026-2027

By Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

Armed with a solid core of returners and some exciting first-year student-athletes, the Pacific Lutheran University golf programs are looking forward to moving up the leaderboard in 2026-2027.

Last year, the Lute men finished fourth at the Northwest Conference Fall Classic before placing fifth at the NWC Spring Classic, and fifth at the season-ending NWC Championships. PLU’s women didn’t record a team score at the NWC Fall Classic but placed sixth at the NWC Spring Classic and was fifth at the NWC Championships to wrap up the season.

Both teams look to build on those performances after returning a key nucleus of golfers from a season ago.

For the men, the Lutes return eight golfers from a season ago, including two— Tanner Frinell and Soren Bostrom— who placed in the Top 20 at the NWC Championships.

I’m excited about the team this year. I think that the energy is great, the comradery is great. We’ve added a freshman to the mix who I think is going to step in and be a top contributor,

Head Coach Al Patterson

2026-2027 Men's Roster

A senior from Lake Oswego, Oregon, Frinell played in 11 tournaments for the Lutes and logged six top 20 finishes, including a seventh place showing at the Fall Classic while placing 16th at the NWC Championships. Across 21 rounds, Frinell averaged a round of 74.9.

“Tanner’s our new captain for this year. He was co-captain last year, and he’s doing a tremendous job. We’re getting great leadership from Tanner, he’s driving the bus and the rest of the guys are falling in line with him.

I’m expecting Tanner to also be a leader with his clubs, but I think potentially all of them could contribute.”

Soren Bostrom wins the PLU Invitational at the Home Course on Sept. 30

Experiencing similar success last year was Bostrom. A junior from Renton, Washington, Bostrom played in 11 tournaments and had eight top 20 finishes. That includes placing 18th at the NWC Championships, fifth at the NWC Fall Classic, and winning the PLU Invitational, while closing the year with a 74.8 average.

“I’m always hopeful that Soren’s game will continue to be great. He won the PLU Invitational last year, shot a 66 that final round which is the best competitive round we’ve had in my two years here. He’s solid.”

A Priest Lake, Idaho native, Luke Butler returns as one of three seniors on squad. A solid contributor over his four years, Butler played in 10 tournaments last season with four top 20 finishes and averaged a round of 76.3 for the year.

“Luke’s a solid contributor throughout his career here at PLU, and had a career-best 65 this summer. So we expect a lot of good things from him.”

PLU’s third senior is Puyallup, Washington native Aiden Aoki. A transfer from California Lutheran University, Aoki, the son of PLU Head Volleyball Coach Kevin Aoki, has appeared in three tournaments over the past two seasons but it eying up a bigger role on the team as one of the team’s longest hitters.

“Aiden’s the longest hitter on our team and had a lot of great rounds this summer.”

After two years, battling injury, junior Grant Raubenolt is looking to make his mark for the Lutes. Last season, the Reynoldsburg, Ohio native played in five tournaments, placing 18th at the PLU Invitational and ending the year with a 76.7 scoring average across nine rounds.

I think Grant is going to step up this year. He’s been injured a lot his first two years and he’s finally healthy and had a great round in our first qualifier so I’m excited about that.

A junior from Spokane, Washington, Geo Pierre looks to make a bigger impact for the Lutes, Last season he played in five tournaments, placing ninth at the Washington Cup.

“Geo’s a solid golfer and we’re expecting great things from him this year.”

The Lutes return a pair of sophomores in Hilo, Hawaii native Tyler Maag and Maple Valley, Washington native Luke Pendergraft.

Maag played in six tournaments last season, including a 24th place showing at the Crusader Cup in Texas. This summer, Maag placed runner-up at the Big Island Amateur.

Tyler had a big finish at the Big Island Amateur with three rounds under par. That’s a great sign for us and we’re excited to see that consistency continue this fall.

Pendergraft participated in five tournaments as a first-year in 2025-2026, finishing 15th at the Pacific Invitational with a 144, including a 68 to open the tournament.

New to the squad this fall is Spokane’s Jack Brigham who hails from Lewis & Clark High School, the same school that produced Geo Pirrie.

Brigham looks to make a huge impact, coming to the squad after being a four-time All-GSL selection and being named WIAA Male Athlete of the Year. This summer he continued to impress, winning the WJGA State Championship and was a semifinalist at the PNGA Championships.

“Jack’s coming off a great summer for junior golf. He won the Washington Junior Golf State Championship which is a huge win for a junior golfer in this state. Then he made the semifinals of the PNGA Junior Amateur.”

With so many talent golfers, it will be tough to choose who to take to tournaments but it’s a good problem to have for the program.

It does make it tough but we’re letting the clubs do the talking so to speak. For this first tournament, all nine players are going to travel. So we’re going to use that tournament and then our home tournament to determine our roster for the fall classic. That’s the big tournament for us this fall in terms of our chances for the postseason.

Luckily we won’t have to rely on qualifiers after those tournaments. We’re doing a qualifier now to see what the order is for the Whitworth Invitational. Beyond that, it will be determined by tournament play.

For the women, the Lutes have extremes on both ends of the roster with three seniors and three first-years.

“This is the first time we’ve gone into a season with a full roster since I’ve been here. It’s nice to have six players competing for spots.”

2026-2027 Women's Roster

Jayda Thomas teeing off against Bellevue at Chambers Bay

Lakewood, Washington native Jayda Thomas headlines the returning Lutes on the women’s team. A two-time NWAC Champion at Centralia College, Thomas joined the squad for the second semester and had a huge spring, placing inside the top 15 in four of the five tournaments. That included tying for first at the NWC Championships and placing seventh at the NWC Spring Classic. Thomas was named Second Team All-Conference and was twice named Golfer of the Week. In 10 rounds, Thomas averaged a round of 79.1.

“Jayda’s a phenomenal golfer, certainly one of the best in our conference. She certainly could be the best in our conference and she’s going to lead us of course. She’s going to put us in a spot in every tournament that we will have a chance. So that’s great.”

Joining Thomas is fellow seniors Kathleen Pullin from Lakewood, Washington and Kate Sabarillo from Mukilteo, Washington.

A four-year Lute and team captain, Pullin has played 51 rounds for the Lutes over the past three seasons. Last year she finished seventh at the PLU Invitational and was 33rd at the season-ending NWC Championships.

Sabarillo joined the Lutes last fall after a standout career at Bellevue College where she was Second Team All-NWAC. Last season, the senior played 20 rounds and finished in the top 25 in four of the 10 tournaments. That included placing 11th at the PLU Invite and 23rd at the NWC Championships.

Kathleen and Kate are going to get pushed because these three first-years have come in and have shown signs they can hit the golf ball and put it in the hole. So it’s going to be fun, I’m excited about the women’s team and for people to push each other on the course.

PLU’s three newcomers include Paso Robles, California native Kaia Gallant, Allyn, Washington native Mari Morris, and Monroe, Washington native SeRi Park.

“I haven’t seen them play all that much yet, but all three have junior golf experience and high school golf experience and have shot good numbers recently.”

Gallant heads to Luteville from California where she earned League MVP honors at Paso Robles High School.

“Kaia hits the ball very far and has won a few of our short game drills in the competition practices we’ve had.”

Morris joins the Lutes from North Mason High School where she did a little bit of everything, earning 11 letters for the Bulldogs across golf, volleyball, and cheer. On the links, Morris placed 11th at the WIAA 2A Championships.

Park comes to PLU after setting school records for best nine and 18 hole rounds, and best career average at Monroe High School where she was three-time All-WESCO.

I’m excited. Just having the team depth is going to be big thing for us because we just haven’t had that. It pushes everyone on what they’re going to do to get on the golf course.

The Lute men tee off the season on Sunday with the Whitworth Invitational, one of five tournaments for the squad this fall. The women open up the following week at the Grisham Memorial at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington. Both squads will have their calendars circled for Oct. 4 & 5 for the NWC Fall Classic held this year at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore.

Added Depth a Boon For Golf Squads in 2026-2027

Men's Golf Fall Schedule

Women's Golf Fall Schedule