Wheeling, W. Va. – After the Wheeling University Men’s Golf team opened their spring season last week, the Wheeling University Women’s Golf team gets their spring season going on Monday. They head to the Greenbrier Country club to participate in the Glenville State Invitational, with tee time scheduled for around 10 AM. The Cardinals are looking to send golfers back to the regional championship and will need a strong spring season to do so.
The Cardinals ended the fall season at the 2022 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Women’s Golf Championships, where they placed fourth out of the nine teams in the conference. The Cardinals entered the tournament as one of three teams favored to win the MEC Championships, but a rough start on day one put the Cardinals behind the eight ball. They battled back with their best day on day two, lowering their score by eight strokes to qualify for the final day of competition. It would be the final day in the successful coaching career of Sue Vail and the Cardinals battled for her. They shot a combined 352 on that final stage and finished with a combined score of 1037.
Leading the way for the Cardinals will once again be senior Emily Holzopfel, who finished as the only Cardinal in the top 10 of the event, tying for 7th with a combined 245 across the three-rounds. The reigning MEC Women’s Golfer of the year didn’t get out to the start she would have liked, shooting an 86 on day one, but came back with two successful days, shooting an 81 on day two and a 78 on day three. Holzopfel is looking to make her second straight trip to the Regional Championships and has had her share of success again this season, picking up two tournament wins during the regular season.
The Cardinal’s second leading golfer during the fall was freshman Marra Johnson, who comes back to the course after a strong swimming season. Her best day of the fall championship event came on the third day when she shot an 87 to move into the top 20 of the event. Seniors Kylee Tolliver and Zoila Herrera will also be back for the Spring season, looking to put a cap on their successful careers. The Cardinals made it to the NCAA Regional Championships as a team for the first time in program history last season and, while they don’t have the automatic bid this season, they are looking to get back to the regional stage again in 2023.
As the Cardinals get set for their spring 2023 schedule, they will go through three different tournaments to end the year. They begin with their trip to Greenbrier Country Club and follows it up with a trip to Muskingum. They then round out the season with the 2023 MEC Women’s Gold spring classic at the end of April. Over these final three meets each of the Cardinals golfers will be looking to do enough to qualify for the regional tournament in May. Of the six golfers for the Cardinals, four have Regional Championship experience and look to to get back there this season. The three seniors on the team are looking to put bows on their careers and help lead Wheeling Golf back to a top program in the conference.
The Greenbrier Country Club
The Greenbrier Country Club is one of the premier facilities across the country, having played host to both the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup. Each day of competition will feature 18 holes to round out the two round event. Wheeling will see other MEC schools in competition, including Glenville State, Charleston, and Concord. Wheeling is looking to gee the upper hand early in the spring season before the regional run.
The Details
Round one of the Glenville State Invitational is scheduled for around 10 AM. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com for updates and a full recap of events.
Discussion about this post