A Promising Approach
Marie Eline Madsen is set to build off of a dynamite freshman season.
One might understand if golfer Marie Eline Madsen put her game on cruise control for her second season at NC State. Her performance as a freshman was a historic one. She became the first Wolfpack women’s golfer to win an NCAA regional and make an All America first or second team. In the fall, she was named to Golfweek’s 2025–26 Women’s College Golf Preseason All-America Third Team.
But the Viborg, Denmark, native frames her accomplishments with humility. “It’s a nice gesture,” she says of her honor while noting it’s only preseason. “It doesn’t really mean anything.”
Madsen, who majors in business administration, grew up playing soccer in her home country, but once her dad took up golf, she started playing and improving. She was a bit unsure if she wanted to play in college. When she finally realized that she did, Madsen was swayed by former Wolfpack golfer and Danish national teammate Adam Pedersen’s recruiting pitch to get her to Raleigh. “I love it here,” Madsen says. “It’s like you enter a different universe. Everyone is just wearing NC State clothes. All the buildings are red. It’s so different from where I come from.”
The game, she says, is different, too, partly due to the climate. Denmark’s winters bring long periods of cold, snow and rain. That means Madsen spent many of her formative years practicing indoors for half the year. “So just coming here, you can practice outside all year,” she says. “People complain a little when it gets cold here. For me, it’s still like dream life.”
That dream will hopefully continue with Madsen playing professionally one day on the LPGA. For now, she’s focused on rising in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, in which she’s climbed from the 300s to the top 35 in the last year. The reason? Her competitive drive. “The goal is definitely to improve. I’m constantly working on things I want to get better at. I think staying on track will help me do more than just making the third team.”
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