Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina's Elsa Maren Steinarsdóttir was named the Southern Conference Women's Golfer of the Week on Wednesday after pacing the Catamounts at the Tot Hill Farm Invitational in Asheboro.
 
The honor is the first weekly conference award of Steinarsdóttir's career and the first for a Catamount women's golfer since Elizabeth Lohbauer earned the distinction in April 2024. The SoCon's weekly awards are selected by the conference office from nominations submitted by each member institution.
 
Steinarsdóttir recorded her third top-15 finish of the fall season, tying for 12th overall while matching the second-lowest 54-hole score of her WCU career. She finished the tournament at 3-over-par 219 (75-68-76), highlighted by a career-low, second-round score of 4-under-par 68.
 
After opening the event with a 3-over 75, the Akranes, Iceland, native surged up the leaderboard with a sparkling second round. Starting on No. 10, Steinarsdóttir overcame consecutive bogeys early in the round and responded with six birdies over her final 12 holes, including four straight during one stretch. Darkness suspended play late Monday with two holes remaining, and she added another birdie when competition resumed Tuesday morning to cap the career-best round.
 
Steinarsdóttir led Western Carolina with 10 birdies during the tournament and currently owns the team's lowest scoring average through eight rounds this season at 72.0 strokes per round. She has also recorded a team-best 25 birdies, averaging more than three per round.
 
Western Carolina returns to action Oct. 12-13 at the Terrier Intercollegiate, hosted by Wofford at the Country Club of Spartanburg.
 
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).