For the Love of the Team: A Gutsy Final Chapter for Makensie Toole

Makensie Toole on the 18th hole of the Women's National Championships

In an era where college sports seem more focused on transfer portals, NIL deals, and individual gain, Division III athletics stand as a beacon of what sport is truly about: passion, perseverance, and loyalty. No student-athlete embodied those values at the NCAA National Women’s Golf Championship more than George Fox University (located in Newberg, Oregon) golfer Makensie Toole.

A Champion from the Start

Makensie Toole is no stranger to excellence. A five-time All-American, 2021 NCAA National

D-III Women’s Golf Champion, and National Freshman Player of the Year, she entered the 2025 National Championship ranked fourth nationally. As a graduate student, she posted her lowest scoring average yet—dropping from 72 to 70—and helped lead her team to major wins, including a nice victory over Emory at the Westbrook Village Invitational in Phoenix in March where she and her teammate Alison Takamiya were co-medalists, each shooting 7-under par over 36 holes.

The Injury No One Saw Coming

In April, a month before the National Championship, everything changed. A sharp pain in Makensie's side led to a devastating diagnosis: an inner costal muscle strain. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Healing could take 5-6 weeks—time she didn’t have.

Forced to the sidelines for her final Conference Championship, Makensie still found ways to

contribute—cheering on her teammates, helping them feel strong and confident, perfecting her putting and doing short chips, and holding on to hope. Nationals became the goal. Not for herself—but for her team.

A New Swing, A New Mindset

When the Bruins arrived at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia for the Championship, Makensie had not played or hit a full shot in over a month. Her “bunt swing”—a creative punch-style modification—allowed her to cautiously test the waters during practice with some shorter irons. But pain and uncertainty lingered. Still, she refused to give up.

“I’ll find a way,” she told her coach, but by the 7th hole of the first practice round, tears arrived, and she could not finish. The team quietly played on, but everyone’s heart was heavy. Would their “Mak-Ice” be able to pull through?

The next day---she was more determined—and continued to modify the swing with a new

“stinger technique” where her follow through stayed short and low in order to keep the pain level down and her shots a little straighter. She made it through nine holes but discovered her shorter drives were not going to allow her to hit more loftier iron shots into many of the elevated greens. This was going to be a challenge, but she had no other choice but to accept the situation.

Grit in Every Shot

With pain management, modified mechanics, and an unwavering will, Makensie stepped onto the course for Round 1 and 2 alongside the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the nation. This would indeed be a test. A 78, then a 79—not her best, but far more than anyone expected from someone battling a muscle injury with every shot.

Then came Round 3. Her putter caught fire. Five birdies dropped, and a stunning one under par 71 helped vault the George Fox team into a tie for fourth. She was fighting, not just the course, but for a team podium finish.

The Final Push

By the final round, she didn’t want to tell her coach, but her mother knew that her daughter’s

pain was now becoming much more intense. Her mother, who had flown in from Australia to

watch her daughter play collegiate golf for the first time and Makensie’s final time, breathed a sigh of relief when Makensie hit her drive straight down the fairway on the first hole. She then hit a good approach in, two putts and a par on hole number one meant just seventeen more to go. With birdies on holes number two and three, excitement was in the air that perhaps Makensie could go under par again for one more round...but by the back nine, she was holding her side between swings. Her mom, watching from the cart path, was holding her breath. Her coach fought helpless tears. But Makensie? She smiled after she hit the flagstick on hole number 15 as the ball ricocheted to 15 feet from the pin instead of dropping in and said, “I can’t seem to catch a break, but I am going to finish no matter what.”

Her final round 75 sealed a podium finish. The George Fox Bruins came in fourth—and it felt like gold. This meant 5 straight years of helping her team achieve podium finishes, including a National Championship in 2023. Her determination and grit helped get it done.

She walked off the green in tears, greeted by teammates who had finished their rounds running to embrace her with one of them bringing her an ice pack. It wasn’t about stats or rankings or her summer tournament schedule having to be changed. It was about finishing. It was about heart. About commitment. And most importantly, about the team.

Legacy of a True Bruin

“Makensie’s performance overall and her finish on Friday during the final round was one of the gutsiest performances I have ever witnessed as a coach,” said head coach MaryJo McCloskey. “She insisted on finishing, and she smiled the whole time through her pain and just held her side all the way to the finish line.”

Makensie Toole will go down not only as one of the most decorated student-athletes in George Fox Women’s Golf history—but as one of the toughest, most loyal teammates to ever wear the Bruins colors.

Makensie's success was never just about individual titles or low scores—it was about showing up, every single day with great energy for her team. Makensie led with quiet strength and relentless commitment. Whether it was a clutch putt under pressure or a word of encouragement during a rough stretch, she made everyone around her feel better.

In Division III sports, you don’t play for headlines—you play for each other and a higher

purpose. Makensie reminded everyone what that really means as she carried herself with grit and grace, focused on the bigger picture. Her legacy set a standard for what it means to be a dedicated teammate.

Makensie Toole played every round with heart, with purpose, and above all—

for the love of the team.