Samuel Casey
News Editor
On Oct. 5-6, The College of Wooster women’s golf team ended their fall season on a high note by winning the Eva Shorb Weiskopf Invitational for the second consecutive year. The Scots defended their title by beating out eight other teams on their home course, Wooster Country Club (WCC).
When asked if there was any additional pressure leading into the tournament, captain Emily Stoehr ’20 said, “I think there’s a little bit of added pressure whenever we go to defend titles, but definitely more than usual at home since we practice here almost every day during the season. Even with that pressure, it’s nice to be at our home course to finish off the season where we’re comfortable playing already.”
In preparation for play, Head Coach Lisa Campanell Komara wanted to avoid this pressure by not focusing on defending the title and instead, putting in some added practice. “We [took] extra days at WCC to practice putting and getting in some more holes, especially on the back 9, as it can be a difference maker in bringing in lower scores,” she said. “Putting on our home course is still very difficult, but we made a very conscious effort to practice different angles and speed of the greens the week leading up to the tournament.”
After the first day of play the Scots trailed Otterbein University by five strokes, but that didn’t stop the team from mounting a comeback. “That was not an easy thing to do, but we are such a strong and competitive team that we just went in to Sunday completely focused and unwilling to accept anything less than what we achieved,” said Lilly Dunning ’21 who led the team Sunday with an 81. Combined with her opening 85, Dunning’s 166 was good enough for an individual runner-up finish and only one stroke behind the medalist. “My goal was of course to get first, but golf is a sport that is about consistency just as much as it is about winning so I’ve chosen to celebrate how I’ve finished in our tournaments throughout this semester, continue working on my game in the off-season and go into the spring season even more determined to reach my goals,” Dunning said. “… in the end, the team result is more important than my individual result, so if I was able to help secure a victory with my performance, [then] that is what matters more.”
In addition to Dunning, Hannah Appleman ’20 shot an 84 on Sunday, an eight-stroke improvement from the day before and one of the keys to cutting down Otterbein’s lead. Appleman’s bounce-back vaulted her into ninth for the tournament. Rounding out the top 10 were Megan Gronau ’21 (85-86) with a fifth-place finish and Kayla Audette ’22 (90-83) who tied for sixth. Ultimately, it was the play of the entire lineup that helped the Scots take home the trophy for the second year in a row. They wrapped up a 31-10 season where six of the nine golfers posting collegiate best rounds.
“There is a winning attitude in the program, with each teammate competing to be in the lineup, yet, they all support each other so we can win as a team,” Campanell Komara said. “The spring looks very promising, especially with the return of Tong-tong Wu ’21 and three seniors providing outstanding leadership.”
The Invitational is named after Eva Shorb Weiskopf who attended the College in 1938 and played on the men’s varsity golf team as well as competing in national golf championships, garnering much media attention. After one year, however, she was dismissed from the team for being a woman and transferred to Mount Union College where she was allowed to compete with the men. Weiskopf is notably the mother of former professional golfer Tom Weiskopf, winner of the 1973 Open Championship and four-time runner up at The Masters. She was inducted into the Wooster Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and this Invitational was started in 2014 in her honor.