Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's golf opens its five-event spring season this week, traveling to Middle Georgia for the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational, hosted by Mercer at the par-72, 6,107-yard Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Eatonton, Ga.
The tournament opens on Friday, Feb. 20, and with unfavorable weather forecasts will now feature 36 holes of continuous play on the first day with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Teams will attempt to complete the event on Saturday with the final 18 holes, but anticipate a 10 a.m. shotgun start on Sunday if inclement weather on Saturday washes out Saturday's competition.
Live scoring of the three-day, 54-hole tournament is available
online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
In addition to the Catamounts and the host Bears, the 15-team field includes golfers from fellow Southern Conference schools ETSU, UNCG, and Wofford. Rounding out the field are Boston College, Butler, Central Arkansas, Daytona State, Delaware, Florida Atlantic, South Dakota State, Tulane, Virginia Tech, and Western Kentucky.
With the rescheduled format entering Friday's opener, teams are expected to compete in foursomes. WCU will be paired with golfers from Boston College, Butler, and Tulane through Friday's action, and will open between the fifth and ninth holes.
Leading the Catamount scoring five as the No. 1 seed through preseason qualifying is graduate transfer
EC Niebauer (77.54), with Icelandic-born sophomore Elsa Maren Steinarsdôttir (76.92) as the second seed. Steinarsdôttir posted WCU's best individual finish in the fall, placing in a sixth-place tie at the semester-ending Edisto Island Invitational.
Sophomore
Annalee Caveney (80.08) enters the spring opener as the No. 3 seed, followed by senior
Sadler Miller (77.08), and sophomore transfer
Emily Rosenschein (87.54). Miller has been busy this spring, also competing with the WCU indoor track & field team in the high jump.
Western Carolina posted four Top 10 team finishes in the fall, including a season-best sixth-place showing at the Terrier Intercollegiate in mid-October. The Catamounts then capped the semester with an eight-place finish at the Edisto Island Invitational
Following competition in Georgia, the Catamounts return to Puerto Rico for the second straight season, competing in the Puerto Rico Iguana Invitational, hosted by Ball State at the Palmas Athletic Club in Humacao, P.R. WCU finished seventh last year in their Caribbean trip in the rain-shortened event.
WCU's busy March schedule includes a trip to the Low Country Intercollegiate, hosted by Wofford at The Golf Club at Indigo Run in Hilton Head Island, S.C., March 9-10. The Catamounts then play in their final tune-up before the conference championship at Georgia's Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, March 28-30. Former WCU women's golfer Erika Danford Brennan (WCU, 2002-06) guides Georgia.
The 2026 Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship is scheduled for April 20-22, at the Columbia Country Club in 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).
