NCAC Championships Notebook: Women’s Golf

This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster women's golf team is competing in this week's North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, which are taking place Friday through Sunday at Westbrook Country Club in Mansfield, Ohio. This year's NCAC Championships has returned to a single-event, 54-hole format and is being hosted by Wittenberg University.

Media Coverage: Fans can follow Golfstat live scoring and check WoosterAthletics.com for end-of-day recaps.

A Look-Back at the 2021 NCAC Championship Series: Wooster placed fourth of six teams at the 2021 NCAC Championships, which was a two-event, 36-hole format with 18 holes at Denison University Golf Club and 18 at Westbrook Country Club. Alumnae Megan Gronau and Tongtong Wu earned honorable mention All-NCAC honors. Gronau, the second three-time all-conference performer in program history, placed 14th at 178. Wu, a two-time all-conference performer, led the Scots with a 177, which was the 13th-place score in the 29-player field.

Wooster Picked Third in Pre-Championships Coaches' Poll: Denison was the unanimous pick by the NCAC coaches to repeat as conference champion this weekend. DePauw University was next with 30 points, while Allegheny College and Wooster both received 20 points in the poll. Wittenberg was next with 14 points, while Ohio Wesleyan University rounded out the poll with six points.

Wooster Seeking Second-Ever Top-Three NCAC Finish: Wooster is still in search of its second-ever top-three NCAC finish. The Scots' then-first-year program debuted at NCAC's with a third-place finish in 2011. Wooster has six-straight fourth-place NCAC showings.

Protecting the Home Track: Wooster won its Eva Shorb Weiskopf Invitational for the third straight year. Wooster, which shot back-to-back 361s, posted a 17-stroke victory over the University of Mount Union, which was the runner-up in the nine-team field. Wooster actually trailed by three strokes after round one, but posted the lowest score in the field by six strokes in the finale. Sophomore Melissa Burtscher (Aurora, Colo./Vista PEAK Preparatory) parlayed a runner-up 167 into NCAC Athlete of the Week honors.

That's a Match: Fueled by three-fifths of its lineup in the top-five, Wooster cruised to a 13-stroke victory at John Carroll University's Spring Shootout on April 10. The win marked the second time in program history Wooster logged back-to-back first-place finishes. Medalist honors at the event resided with Burtscher, who tied a collegiate-best with a 76, the second-lowest round in program history. Burtscher played the front-nine at 1-over-par, thanks to back-to-back birdies on holes four and five. Burtscher went on to drain birdies on holes 10 and 14.

The Right Time to Shine: Senior Meghan Wright (Goochland, Va./Goochland) logged a career-day at JCU's event, with her 82 marking a new collegiate-best. Wright tied for third-place, the soon-to-be dental student's top collegiate finish in a traditional tournament. The biology major's steady round included nine pars, with five coming on the front-nine. Wright carries a 91.7 average into the NCAC Championships.

Burtscher Leading Way for Scots: Burtscher's 82.1 average is tops on Wooster's squad entering the NCAC Championships. The sophomore has five top-five finishes this year, and is coming off a third-place 164 at the NCAC Preview. Burtscher's 82 won medalist honors at Grove City College's Fall Invitational, and the sophomore added a second top-five fall finish at the Wooster Fall Invitational.

Siewert Goes Low: First-year Ally Siewert (Northfield, Ohio/Nordonia) broke 80 for the first time in college at last week's NCAC Preview. Siewert carded a 77 in the opening round on the strength of a 1-over-par back-nine. Siewert sank a birdie on the par-4, 290-yard 11th hole and followed the birdie with six pars over the remaining seven holes. Siewert carries an 86.9 average into the NCAC Championships.

Senior Consistency: Senior Kayla Audette (Northfield, Vt./Northfield) sports an 88.7 average heading into the NCAC Championships. Audette, a neuroscience major, has logged between a 91 and 95 in each of her last five rounds. The senior closed the fall with a collegiate-best 79 on the final day of the Wooster Fall Invitational.

Dual-Sport Athletes Shine at Wooster: Like Burtscher, a reserve guard, junior Riley Thorr (Thompsonville, Mich./Frankfort) also plays on the women's basketball team at the College. There, Thorr is a reserve forward. Thorr has been holding down the fifth spot in the lineup this spring, and she has a 98.6 average on the year. Sophomore Drew Patterson (Evanston, Ill/Evanston Twp.), who has a 97.8 average and a career-low of 91 from the Grove City Fall Invitational, is a key member of the track & field team. The jumps and relays star earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-region honors in the heptathlon, All-Ohio honors in the 4x400 relay, and All-NCAC honors in the heptathlon and indoor 4x400 relay this year. Patterson's 4,183 heptathlon points is the school record.

Newcomers Showcasing Improvements: First-year Maddie Moran (Youngstown, Ohio/Boardman) and sophomore Mai Fukuhara (Chiba, Japan/Image) have been playing as individuals this year. Moran's low of 97 came at the Grove City Fall Invitational, while Fukuhara opened the Wooster Fall Invitational with a 95.