The 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Golf Preseason Coaches Poll was released on Monday and the Foresters were tied-for-second in the rankings.
Voting is done by the SLIAC head women's golf coaches. Each coach votes for the other nine schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Grinnell College was atop the poll with 71 points and received all but two first place votes. The other two went to the Foresters, who joined Illinois College in second place with 57 total points. Spalding University (40 points) and Monmouth College (35) were also in the top half.
Lake Forest's top returner is Makayla Sanchez, who averaged 91.1 shots in a dozen rounds and was 16th at the SLIAC Championships last spring. The Foresters were the league's runners-up after placing third in 2019, their first year in the conference.
Sean O'Malley's fifth season as the team's head coach will begin with this weekend's Battle on the Border, which will be played at Bristol Oaks Country Club in Bristol, Wisconsin, on Friday and Saturday. Lake Forest will play in four other tournaments before traveling to Springfield, Illinois, for the SLIAC Championships October 9-11. The Foresters will also play several tournaments in the spring.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Grinnell College (7) | 71 |
| 2t | Lake Forest College (2) | 57 |
| 2t | Illinois College | 57 |
| 4 | Spalding University | 40 |
| 5 | Monmouth College | 35 |
| 6 | Knox College | 34 |
| 7t | Blackburn College | 26 |
| 7t | Fontbonne University | 26 |
| 9 | Elmhurst University | 20 |
| 10 | Eureka College | 18 |
Complete St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Release