WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After a runner-up finish at the 2025 PSAC Women's Golf Championships last April, the West Chester University women's golf team is set to begin the 2025-26 season, hungry to add more hardware to its trophy case under the tutelage of third-year head coach
Chris Merce.
A season ago, West Chester sat in second in the team standings throughout the Championship weekend and finished second with its best team finish at the PSAC Championships since winning the crown in October 2018. West Chester returns each player from its lineup a year ago as Merce and the Golden Rams return
Cierra Griffith (Pottstown, Pa./Spring-Ford), Kirsten Vanderhorst (Gambrills, Md./Bishop McNamara), Morgan Kunze (Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford), Margaux Solis (Houston, Tx./Klein), Gigi Merino (York, Pa./York Suburban), Molly Gregor (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Gwynedd Mercy Academy), Myra Glass (Camden Wyoming, Del./Polytech), and Emilee Barkley (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown).
At the 2025 PSAC Championships, Griffith was the top finisher for West Chester after an excellent Sunday round of 82, which saw her finish sixth with a three-day score of 243 (82, 79, 72) as one of three Golden Rams in the top-10. Kunze was in the top three for much of the weekend and finished in seventh with a three-day score of 244 (80, 77, 87) while Vanderhorst finished eighth with a three-day score of 246 (87,77, 82).
In addition to this strong returning group, who have all played well in big moments for the Golden Rams throughout their careers, West Chester also welcomes a handful of talented newcomers, including true freshman
Taryn Brandt (Denton, Md./North Caroline) and Cara Murphy (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) along with transfers
Fatima Rizvi (Lucknow, India/RPS Academies/Albright) and Hanna Lignell (Gothenburg, Sweden/Kitas Gymnasium/Limestone).
For the second time in as many years, West Chester will open its Fall 2025 slate at the WCU Battlefield Classic in Gettysburg as the Golden Rams look to tame the 5,809-yard, Par-72 course at the Links at Gettysburg. West Chester will get its season underway on Monday alongside Adelphi, Kutztown, Saint Anselm, Jefferson, Seton Hill, and Shepherd.
When the Battlefield Classic wraps up on Tuesday, West Chester will shift its attention to the Millersville Fall Classic at Berkleigh Golf Club on September 15 and 16 before heading to Bristol, Tennessee, for the King University Invitational on September 22 and 23.
West Chester will open in October at the one-day Alvernia Fall Invitational on October 7 before heading to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the two-day Davenport Panther Invitational on October 11 and 12. After the team returns from Michigan, West Chester will head to Maryland to compete in the Battle at Bulle Rock on October 14 and 15, concluding its fall slate.
