Cullowhee, N.C. – Returning to action for the first time since late October of the fall semester, Western Carolina women's opens the spring semester on Friday at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational, hosted by Mercer on the par-72, 6,195-yard National course at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament includes 18 holes per day, opening on Friday, Feb. 21, and concluding with the final round on Sunday, Feb. 23. Friday and Saturday have a 12:30 p.m., shotgun starts with the final 18 holes scheduled for a 10 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring through the Scoreboard app powered by Clippd is available online through links at CatamountSports.com.
In addition to the Catamounts and the host Bears, the 15-team field includes three other Southern Conference squads in ETSU, UNCG, and Wofford. Rounding out the field are golfers from Boston College, Daytona State College, Delaware, East Carolina, Florida, Florida Atlantic, South Dakota State, Tulane, UAB, and Western Kentucky.
Paired with golfers from Boston College and Florida Atlantic, WCU's scoring five hits the course between holes No. 12 and 15 in Friday's 12:30 p.m. shotgun start.
Senior
Elizabeth Lohbauer leads the Catamount scoring five into its spring opener after pacing the squad through the fall portion of the schedule. The Venice, Fla., product averaged 75.21 over 14 rounds in the fall, recording WCU's best individual finishes with a pair of ninth-place showings at the Tot Hill Farm Invitational and the fall finale at The Robbie, hosted by Lipscomb.
Lohbauer is flanked by a trio of freshmen in
Madison Lehr,
Ella Kozak, and
Annalee Caveney, each coming off their first fall semester. Lehr, a product of Mechanicsville, Va., led WCU's trio of rookies with a stroke average of 77.29 – 25th overall in the conference among scores reported through the fall and fifth among all freshmen in the SoCon.
Rounding out the Catamount scoring five is junior
Sadler Miller, who closed the fall semester with her best performance of the year in a tie for 25th at The Robbie.
"I am excited to get the spring season started this week at the Reynolds Lake Oconee. We know that it will be a cold few days, but we're used to it this time of year." said WCU first-year head coach
Anne Marie Covar. "During the preseason, we have gotten a lot of good work in and have made some great strides. That's exactly what you want to see leading into your championship segment of your season."
WCU's roster also includes Canadian-born senior
Kaitlyn Wingnean and sophomore transfer
Abby Bradley, who joined the team mid-year from Emory & Henry. Bradley claimed individual medalist honors in her sophomore fall season at E&H, winning at the University of Charleston Invitational.
Western Carolina's five-event spring schedule includes three events in March with a return trip to the Ball State's Puerto Rico Classic (March 4-6), before returning to the Old North State for NC State's City of Oaks Collegiate (March 21-22) at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh. The Catamounts finished fifth last year in Puerto Rico with Lohbauer finishing in fifth place.
The penultimate event of WCU's spring schedule comes with a return to the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate on March 31 through April 1. The Catamounts compete at the event it helped co-found with Appalachian State years ago for the fourth-straight season, heading to the Mimosa Hills Country Club as a two-time defending event champion.
The spring season closes at the 2025 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship, April 13-15, at the Solina Golf Club in West Columbia, S.C.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf).
