Thomas Pitney
Sports Editor
Though the Wooster women’s and men’s golf teams competed on different courses and in different events on Saturday, Sept. 11, they both shined. At the Grove City College Fall Invitational, the women’s team finished in first place out of nine teams. The men’s team, playing in the Dan Caschera Invitational, finished in second place out of four teams.
The Wooster women’s golf team ran away with the Grove City College Fall Invitational title with a score of 356 strokes, 17 strokes ahead of second-place Marietta College. The Scots’ dominant performance was led by medalist Melissa Burtscher ’24, who shot an 82 (+10) and finished with the best individual score of the invitational. Highlights in Burtscher’s round were a pair of birdies on the par-four tenth hole and the par-five sixteenth hole.
Burtscher was especially proud of her birdie on the tenth hole. After missing a short birdie putt on the ninth hole, Burtscher said, “my mindset was to get another good look at a birdie. I teed my ball up and hit a nice drive down the right-hand side of the fairway. I had about 130 yards into the green and hit a solid 9 iron a couple yards left and just short of the flagstick. I walked up to the green thinking I could make the putt. I hit an aggressive putt to take the potential break out and the ball went straight in the back of the cup.”
Following Burtscher was Ally Siewert ’25, who finished in fourth place with an 88 (+16); Drew Patterson ’24 tied for sixth place with a 91 (+19); Meghan Wright ’22 finished with a 92 (+20) to tie for twelfth place; Kaula Audette ’22 tied for fifteenth place with a 94 (+22); Maddie Moran ’25 scored a 97 (+25) to finish tied for nineteenth; Riley Thorr ’23 finished tied for twenty-first with a score of 98 (+26).
The team victory was the ninth in the history of Wooster women’s golf. Meghan Wright summed up the team’s morale after this major accomplishment for the program. “There were many other competitive schools at the tournament, so this victory affirmed our preparation for the season. Overall, this victory sets the tone of the season in a positive direction for us.”
In West Lafayette, Ohio, the men’s golf team finished in second place in the Dan Caschera Invitational with a team score of 453 (+21). However, this event posed a unique challenge. Rather than the traditional eighteen-hole format, the Dan Caschera Invitational required the competitors to play twenty-seven holes. “It was more challenging to stay focused because of the length of the round. But besides more food and water, I approached it the same as every other tournament,” said Jacob Ullom ’24. Ben Foltz ’22 had similar challenges, noting that, “since you have to be focused every minute while playing golf, holding that focus for seven and a half hours was by far the most difficult part.”
Ullom’s and Foltz’s approaches certainly worked. Ullom finished in third place overall and first for Wooster with a score of 110 (+2), and Foltz trailed close behind with a score of 111 (+3), good enough for fourth place overall. On the back nine, both Ullom and Foltz shot even par. Ullom was extremely happy with his performance on the back nine, especially on the twenty-third hole. “I saved par after driving it into the heather grass and hitting it to a couple feet with my third shot.”
The Scots were rounded out by Tyler Hilbert ’24, who shot a 113 (+5) to finish tied for eighth place, Krishang Nayak ’25 with a 114 (+6) to tie for eleventh place, Sam Norris ’25 with a 116 (+8) to finish tied for seventeenth place, David Dennis ’24, who shot a 117 (+9) to finish tied for twenty-first, Noah Jackman ’25, who finished twenty-fifth with a score of 118 (+10), Eddie Papp ’24 with a 120 (+12) to tie for twenty-seventh place, DD Dawrat ’24, who took 123 strokes (+15) to finish tied for thirty-second, and Ethan Kramer ’24, who shot a 132 (+24) to finish fifty-first.
Though the men did not win the event, they were encouraged by the second-place finish. Foltz is “loving the enthusiasm, determination and adaptability our team is cultivating. Thanks to the great recruiting process, we are looking better than ever this year.”
The women’s golf team next competes at the Heidlberg Fall Invitational at Fostoria Country Club on Friday, Sept. 17 and Saturday, Sept. 18. The men’s next competition will be the Poppa Flowers Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Highland Park Golf Course.