Women’s Golf Welcomes Park and Yonemura
11/13/2024 10:06:00 AM | Women's Golf
Duo sign for 2025-26 season
SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga women's golf head coach Brad Rickel announced the signing of Audrey Park and Mariko Yonemura Wednesday.
"We are very excited to for Audrey Park and Mariko Yonemura to join us as our 2025 signing class," Rickel said. "Both are accomplished golfers and great students with high academic goals and come from very supportive families. They will make great Zags, on and off the course.
"Audrey and Mariko both understand and appreciate how our program strives to balance golf, academics, and service within the community. We are looking for them to make an immediate impact on our team. We are excited to grow and learn with them over their careers here at Gonzaga. We believe that together they will help us continue to be a program that competes at a high level, both athletically and academically."
Audrey Park
Newcastle, Wash. | Liberty High School
Park was First Team KingCo as a junior, after being tabbed second team as a sophomore. During her sophomore year, she was the KingCo champion, while placing third at the state championship. Park was fourth at the state championship last season. She was second in the Northern Junior Championship. Park qualified for the Notah Begay National Championship in 2022 and 2023, and qualified to represent Washington in Girls Junior Americas Cup in 2023. She was second at the 2023 WJGA Eastern Open.
"The community at Gonzaga is so unbelievably strong and beautiful, which can easily be seen both throughout the entire college and also the golf team I am so grateful I get to join," Park said. "While the academics and campus are indeed amazing, this was ultimately how I knew I had to look no further to see that I had found my future college."
In the classroom, Park has a 3.794 grade point average. The daughter of Debbie and Sam Park would like to major in Computer Science at GU.
"We are very happy Audrey chose Gonzaga," Rickel said. "Her energy and personality will be a welcome addition. She has shown she is one of the best in the state of Washington, and she will help us in every way. Audrey immediately saw Gonzaga for what a special place it is and has an enthusiasm that will be a great fit to our team. She has been very clear about her goals athletically and academically and we look forward to watching her accomplish them."
Mariko Yonemura
Waipahu, Hawaii | Mililani High School
Yonemura was named First Team OIA West following her freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons. She placed 14th at the HHSAA State Championship last season, after a sixth-place finish in her sophomore season in 2023. She took medalist honors at the 2024 OIA Barber's Point Tournament after carding a 71. She also placed eighth at the 2022 OIA Championship.
"I chose Gonzaga because it seemed like a place where I could grow as both a person and in my abilities," Yonemura said. "The sense of community I felt from the university felt like I would be supported and given room to improve not only in golf, but in every aspect of myself."
Off the course, she boasts a 4.178 GPA (Freshman Year GPA: 4.00, Sophomore Year GPA: 4.129, Junior Year GPA: 4.286). The daughter of Kenneth Yonemura and Maxine Yonemura would like to major in Computer Science at Gonzaga.
"Mariko is passionate about tournament golf and is very much the kind of player who has been incredibly successful here," Rickel said. "She arrives with a lot of tournament experience, coming from a competitive setting in Hawaii and is eager to learn. She is ready to take her game to the national level. She will be a great addition to our team and will continue to get better as she gains experience."
"We are very excited to for Audrey Park and Mariko Yonemura to join us as our 2025 signing class," Rickel said. "Both are accomplished golfers and great students with high academic goals and come from very supportive families. They will make great Zags, on and off the course.
"Audrey and Mariko both understand and appreciate how our program strives to balance golf, academics, and service within the community. We are looking for them to make an immediate impact on our team. We are excited to grow and learn with them over their careers here at Gonzaga. We believe that together they will help us continue to be a program that competes at a high level, both athletically and academically."
Audrey Park
Newcastle, Wash. | Liberty High School
Park was First Team KingCo as a junior, after being tabbed second team as a sophomore. During her sophomore year, she was the KingCo champion, while placing third at the state championship. Park was fourth at the state championship last season. She was second in the Northern Junior Championship. Park qualified for the Notah Begay National Championship in 2022 and 2023, and qualified to represent Washington in Girls Junior Americas Cup in 2023. She was second at the 2023 WJGA Eastern Open.
"The community at Gonzaga is so unbelievably strong and beautiful, which can easily be seen both throughout the entire college and also the golf team I am so grateful I get to join," Park said. "While the academics and campus are indeed amazing, this was ultimately how I knew I had to look no further to see that I had found my future college."
In the classroom, Park has a 3.794 grade point average. The daughter of Debbie and Sam Park would like to major in Computer Science at GU.
"We are very happy Audrey chose Gonzaga," Rickel said. "Her energy and personality will be a welcome addition. She has shown she is one of the best in the state of Washington, and she will help us in every way. Audrey immediately saw Gonzaga for what a special place it is and has an enthusiasm that will be a great fit to our team. She has been very clear about her goals athletically and academically and we look forward to watching her accomplish them."
Mariko Yonemura
Waipahu, Hawaii | Mililani High School
Yonemura was named First Team OIA West following her freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons. She placed 14th at the HHSAA State Championship last season, after a sixth-place finish in her sophomore season in 2023. She took medalist honors at the 2024 OIA Barber's Point Tournament after carding a 71. She also placed eighth at the 2022 OIA Championship.
"I chose Gonzaga because it seemed like a place where I could grow as both a person and in my abilities," Yonemura said. "The sense of community I felt from the university felt like I would be supported and given room to improve not only in golf, but in every aspect of myself."
Off the course, she boasts a 4.178 GPA (Freshman Year GPA: 4.00, Sophomore Year GPA: 4.129, Junior Year GPA: 4.286). The daughter of Kenneth Yonemura and Maxine Yonemura would like to major in Computer Science at Gonzaga.
"Mariko is passionate about tournament golf and is very much the kind of player who has been incredibly successful here," Rickel said. "She arrives with a lot of tournament experience, coming from a competitive setting in Hawaii and is eager to learn. She is ready to take her game to the national level. She will be a great addition to our team and will continue to get better as she gains experience."
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