The Northwest Iowa National Invitational women’s golf tournament in Le Mars ended on Tuesday at Willow Creek Golf Course. Texas Wesleyan senior Makena Junkin finished as individual champion shooting a 202 and finishing 14 strokes under par.
The win marked Junkin’s second win in Le Mars in the last three seasons. Junkin says this tournament has been a great one to compete at over her college career.
The last few years Junkin has been in Le Mars featured some better temperatures and some windier conditions. This year, the course was still saturated with water changing up the playing style. Junkin says it did not mess with the difficulty of the course, but it was an adjustment to a different style of play.
The individual championship was tied after 36 holes before Junkin bested her opponent by three strokes in the final round. She says she had to adjust her mindset heading into the second day of the tournament.
The win follows a tremendous junior season that saw Junkin win the NAIA Individual National Championship. Junkin says winning the national title last year showed her how tough winning it all can be and how much tougher it is going to be to do it again.
In four seasons of the Northwest Iowa National Invitational, Junkin claims two championships, a runner-up finish, and a 14th-place finish.
