Lindenwood University Women's Golf

Weber, a former Lady Lions golfer, is in her ninth year as the Lindenwood womens golf head coach in 2016-17. Last season, Webers program continued to be one of the top teams in the MIAA and the region. Lindenwood won two tournaments during the regular season and finished third at the MIAA Championships. The Lady Lions earned their third NCAA Regional Tournament berth, and finished 10th at that event.   Three womens golfers earned all-MIAA honors, including second-team accolades for both Madelyn Piccininni and Dakota Limkemann. In the classroom, ten golfers were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, Piccininni and Limkemann were MIAA Scholar-Athletes, and Linkemann and Natalie Long were MIAA Academic Excellence award winners. In 2014-15, Weber helped the Lady Lions to a runner-up finish at the MIAA Championships, and Lindenwood earned a berth to the NCAA Regional Tournament for the second straight season. The Lady Lions placed sixth at the NCAA Regionals, capping off a spring season in which they were fourth or better in four of seven tournaments. Four Lady Lions earned all-MIAA honors, led by second-team member Madelyn Piccininni. In the classroom, three womens golfers earned the MIAA Scholar-Athlete award, and 10 were placed on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll. In 2013-14, Weber led Lindenwood to a NCAA bid in its first season of eligibility. The Lady Lions earned a spot in the NCAA Regional Tournament where they placed ninth overall. Lindenwood finished fourth at the MIAA Championships, and it won one tournament during the year at the Spring Thaw Invitational in Phoenix, Ariz.   Piccininni earned first-team all-MIAA honors during the season. Off the course, eight golfers were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, and Piccininni was named a MIAA Scholar-Athlete. Weber and Lindenwood competed in the MIAA for the first time in 2013. The Lady Lions finished sixth out of 11 teams in the conference tournament in their first year as a member of the NCAA Division II conference. Lindenwood won the Lindenwood Fall Invitational, its third victory in that tournament since Weber took over the program. One Lindenwood golfer, Sydney Hawley, earned the MIAA Academic Excellence Award, and ten golfers were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll. In 2012, Weber led Lindenwood through its transition season from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II level. The Lady Lions finished runner-up in five of their nine events and won the Hannibal-LaGrange Spring Invitational. Three different Lindenwood golfers won medalist honors throughout the season. In the programs final season in the NAIA in 2010-11, Lindenwood won its 12th consecutive women's golf conference title, including the third straight with Weber as head coach. Following the conference meet, which Lindenwood won by 88 shots, Weber was named the HAAC Coach of the Year. Marcella Ax won conference medalist honors for the second time in her career. The Lady Lions also finished 17th at nationals, its best showing since 2004. Lindenwood had five tournament titles on the season and four second-place showings. Megan Burgress finished 16th at nationals, the highest finish since Lindenwood Hall of Famer Itzel Nieto had three straight top-10 showings from 2001-03. In 2009-10, Weber led the Lady Lions to a HAAC Championship and also qualified for a berth into the NAIA National Championship tournament. The Lady Lions finished 20th in the national tournament. In Webers first season as head coach of the Lady Lions, she led the team to three first- place finishes, a HAAC title, and a NAIA National Championship appearance. Ax tied for medalist honors at the conference championship and a balanced team effort helped Lindenwood finish 23rd at nationals. Weber played golf for four years for the Lady Lions. She earned national academic honors in 2005 and 2006 and was an all-conference performer for two years. She was also a member of the 2004 team which went to the national championship event. Weber graduated from Lindenwood in 2006 with a degree in business administration and earned her MBA from Lindenwood in 2007. She is currently working on her master's in professional counseling.

Tavia Rutherford enters her third season as the women's golf coach in 2025-26. In 2024-25, Rutherford led the Lions to their first tournament title at the Division I level after capturing the title at the Nevel Meade Collegiate held at Nevel Meade Golf Club in Prospect, Ky. Jamie Daniels went on to earn medalist at the tournament. Lindenwood had two other top-three finishes at tournaments during the season and finished fourth at the OVC Championships.  Under the direction of Rutherford, Lindenwood concluded its season with a fourth place finish at the OVC Championships. The Lions also finished third at the Jan Weaver Invitational in April. During the event, Andrea Alavarez earned a top five finish, and for her efforts, garnered OVC Golfer of the Week honors.  Rutherford comes to Lindenwood after spending the last two seasons as the assistant men’s and women’s golf coach at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. During that time, Rutherford coached two first-team all-league selections and the 2022 Horizon League Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year in Sam McWilliams. Under her direction, the Jaguars picked up two tournament victories on the women’s side. Prior to her time in Indianapolis, Ind. Rutherford spent two years as head men’s and women’s golf coach at Sioux Falls. During that time, she directed the USF golf teams to one of the best seasons in program history in 2021. The women's team, led by NSIC Golfer of the Year Lexi Hanson, finished a program-best second (960) at the NSIC Championships in the spring. USF, which was ranked as high as No. 11 in the region, had a program-best four student-athletes named All-NSIC. Two of her student-athletes earned All-NSIC Tourney honors and Hanson also earned a second straight trip to the NCAA DII regionals where she finished tenth. USF had six student-athletes named Academic All-NSIC with four named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence. As for the men's team, USF earned its first-ever berth to the 2021 NCAA DII Central Regional and finished 15th overall with a score of 922. At regionals, USF, which was ranked No. 7 in the final regional rankings, finished third at the NSIC Golf Championships with an 886 total. NSIC Newcomer of the Year Gavin Metz was third overall at the NSIC Championships. Two of her men earned All-NSIC honors and another was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honoree for the second straight year, a program-first. Seven were named Academic All-NSIC and four earned NSIC Academic Team of Excellence honors. In addition, one of her student-athletes was named USF's Representative Man of the Year - the highest honor accorded a male student at USF. In 2019-20, Rutherford led both the USF men's and women's golf programs to record-breaking years; highlighted by two team wins and five individual medalists. The women’s team was ranked ninth in the Central Region and the men ranked 12th before the abrupt end to their season due to COVID-19. She coached Hanson to her lowest scoring average of 74.50 which ranked first in the NSIC and JJ Cooney who was named USF’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year for 2019-20. Cooney was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and one of 14 golf student-athletes (eight men; six women) honored on the NSIC All-Academic Team. Eight USF golfers were also named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence (3.6 or greater GPA). Rutherford, played at USF from 2011-15 and reached the NCAA DII Regionals three times and the NCAA DII National Tournament as a senior which was a first for a USF golfer.  A three-time All-NSIC performer, Rutherford became USF's first-ever NSIC Golfer of the Year as a senior. She was also named the NCAA Elite 89 Award winner (2014-15) which is the highest academic honor bestowed on a student-athlete. Rutherford capped off her outstanding career at USF by equaling her best round of the NCAA Championship and finishing tied for 37th.  Competing as an individual out of the Central Region in 2015, Rutherford finished as the fourth-highest golfer out of 18 Central Region competitors. She was the highest finishing representative (seven total) from the NSIC at the NCAA Championship. Rutherford became USF's first-ever selection to the Women's Golf Coaches' Association All-Central Region team for the 2014-15 season.  One of USF's mostly highly decorated student-athletes, Rutherford earned the Butch Raymond Scholarship Award, and was an NSIC Honor Student-Athlete, Myles Brand Award recipient and FCA Honor Athlete. In addition, she was also named the Outstanding Senior Exercise Science Student and Outstanding Senior Psychology Student for her research exploring the effects of imagery direction on golf-putting performance at USF. A native of Bakersfield, Calif., Rutherford graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science in 2015 from USF. she earned a Master of Arts degree in sport and performance psychology from University of Denver in 2017. At DU, she served as the Head of Operations for the Center for Performance Excellence (CPEX) as well as a mental skills consultant working with a variety of athletic teams.