Like most high school golfers in search of a college home, Norah Roberts had established a specific list of criteria and applied it to each school she visited.

"My biggest piece of advice would be to do your research and really figure out what you want. Knowing what you are looking for in a school and golf program is the most important thing for any athlete to be aware of.

"From there, you really need to put yourself out there. College coaches arent necessarily going to find you; instead, you need to find them and let them know youre there. If you arent willing to take the time to send a lot of emails and keep updating coaches on your recent results, it is going to become a lot more difficult for you to find the right fit.

"After awhile, you will have to decide what schools to focus in on based on what schools have shown an interest. From my experience you can send 20 emails to some coaches and never receive a response from them. When this happens, it is important to realize that there are other schools out there. ... It is key that you dont confine yourself to a small list of prospects. Allowing this will likely lead to disappointment.

"Finally, I would like to say that I would love to answer any questions that an athlete may have as they are going through their own recruiting process, since I know it can be a confusing and frustrating process."

Specifically, the Union Grove senior and No. 1 golfer in the Wisconsin.Golf girls Class of 2023 state rankings and 2021 WIAA Division 1 state runner-up wanted a school that offered:

A college-town feel.

A good-sized student population.

A solid women's golf program.

A broad choice of majors from which to choose.

"North Dakota State checked all of the boxes, which led to my commitment," Roberts wrote in an email interview with Wisconsin.Golf, elaborating on her March 26 tweet announcing her decision to choose the Bison over UW-Green Bay, Butler, Loyola (Ill.), Drake, Missouri State, Creighton, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis and Bradley, "to mention a few" of the schools that she was considering and/or visited during the recruiting process.

"Most of the schools I visited had golf programs that felt like a family, but what made NDSU stand out is that it gives me a lot of academic freedom. It was the only school that offered both majors that I am interested in: engineering and biochemistry. Not to mention that NDSU has a good golf program and features a solid, competitive schedule in both the fall and spring seasons."

Roberts' decision continues the export of talent from the Wisconsin PGA Junior Tour to coach Matt Johnson's NDSU program in Fargo.

Over the last 12 months, both Middleton's Alexis Thomas and Oregon's Taylor McCorkle completed their college careers with the Bison. Currently, sophomore Holly Murphy of Lake Geneva and freshmen Jo Baranczyk of Green Bay and Elise Hoven of Grafton are on the NDSU roster, with Baranczyk (second in scoring during the 2021-22 season at 77.21) and Hoven (fourth at 77.40) having found homes in the Bison lineup.

"I went on a campus visit in February and I was able to meet and hang out for a few days with the team," Roberts wrote. "We attended a basketball game, which gave me a good feel for the amount of school spirit that both the school and the city of Fargo have for their university. I visited their facilities and was able to practice with them twice.

"They have a really nice short-game center, Trackman simulator and are currently building a new indoor sports center. Additionally, Coach Johnson was very receptive and easy to communicate with during this whole process."

In Roberts, the Bison are getting a golfer who has enjoyed steady improvement since reaching high school.

After winning five events on the WPGA Junior Tour and three more on the Tour Edge Milwaukee County Parks series in 2019 and 2020, Roberts broke through in 2021 with her first major championship victory at the Wisconsin Junior Girls State Championship, added T-2 finishes at the Lake Arrowhead Invitational and WIAA state tournament and a pair of of third-place showings at the Morgan Stanley Tour Championship and the Sherri Steinhauer. She also turned heads with solid showings at the Wisconsin State Women's Amateur (T-10) and the Wisconsin State Women's Open (T-28).

"I hope to go there and be able to contribute to the team as well as learn things from the players that are more experienced playing at the college level," Roberts wrote. "NDSU has had and currently has some great players. They have won tournaments and conference championships in the past and that is still their goal moving forward. I want to be part of that tradition and work to make those goals a reality."

Original post:
Chance to mix engineering, biochemistry with golf leads Union Grove's Norah Roberts to join Wisconsin contingent at North Dakota State -...