RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference released the 2024 Preseason Women's Golf Coaches Poll on Wednesday where the Lady Bulldogs were picked second.
 
Henderson State was deemed the preseason favorite, having won the past four conference championships. They received five first-place votes – two more than the three that SWOSU earned. Narrowly behind the Lady Bulldogs was Harding in third with the remaining two first-place nods. 
 
The entire poll results, voted on by the league's head coaches, can be seen below.
 

Team	Total	First-Place Votes
Henderson State	75	5
SWOSU	71	3
Harding	69	2
Arkansas Tech	57
Oklahoma Baptist	49
Southern Nazarene	33
Northwestern	28
Southeastern	28
Southern Arkansas	22
Arkansas-Monticello	18

 
SWOSU is fresh off a trip to the national tournament last season – the third time in program history – following a runner-up finish in the NCAA Central Region Tournament that qualified them. Three of the five members of that team return to the lineup for 2024-25: Freya Sala, Ashlyn Acosta, and Drew Dodgion. Two in-state freshmen will round out the seven-member team set to begin competition the first week of September.
 
Six tournaments make up the fall schedule for SWOSU, including an October 3rd date at their home course in Weatherford in a head-to-head matchup against Northwestern for the Perkins Cup. The spring portion of the Lady Bulldogs schedule, which will include the conference championship, remains unreleased.   
 
Head coach Brad Fleetwood enters his 13th year as leader of the golf program. He earned Women's Coach of the Year accolades for both the conference and NCAA Central Region in 2024 and is now a two-time GAC Coach of the Year.

Fall action begins September 3 and will span through October 29.