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JOHNSTOWN, Pa.- The West Chester University men's golf team is preparing for the opening round of the NCAA Atlantic/East Regional Championships at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, with the first tee time of the day for the Golden Rams being
Nathan Radwanski at 11 a.m. Radwanski will be the first of five Golden Rams off the first tee in the 11 o'clock hour as William Hilton will follow at 11:10,
Paul-Arthur Roth at 11:20,
Patrick Carl at 11:30, and
Yamato Kimura at 11:40 as the final Golden Ram to hit the course in the opening round. Throughout the Tournament live results will be available
here.
"We've had a good year with a pretty consistent top six with five new faces, including four freshmen," acknowledged head coach
Chris Merce when asked about his 2025-26 campaign to date. "It's been a great group to work with, and we've had a really good culture and work ethic all season. Some of that credit has to go to Evan (Jozwiak) and Victor (Mominey) for their leadership this season. They really embraced what we were trying to do this year and have done a great job leading the group in really positive ways on and off the course."
West Chester will be joined on the par-70 course at Sunnehanna by Charleston (W.V.), Gannon, Shepherd, West Liberty, Wheeling, St. Thomas Aquinas, Fairmont State, California (Pa.), Adelphi, Glenville State, Winston-Salem State, Southern New Hampshire, Indiana (Pa.), Bluefield State, Bentley, Fayetteville State, Wilmington, Pitt-Johnstown (who serves as the host school this week), Post and Assumption. Saint Anselm, Davis & Elkins, Jefferson, Felician, Virginia State, Shepherd, and Franklin Pierce will all have individuals competing at the Championships this weekend as well.
Asked about his young lineup, which is expected to include four freshmen once again this week, Merce said, "When we were recruiting, we were looking for players with a high level of junior experience, so they are comfortable playing important rounds right away. In golf, at the end of the day, scores are scores, so freshmen always have a chance to come in, work hard, and contribute right away."
The top three teams and the top two student-athletes not on an advancing team from the Atlantic/East Regional Tournament will advance to the NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championships, which are scheduled for May 18-22 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas. The finals will be hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
West Chester heads into the week with some familiarity around the par-70 Sunnehanna Country Club as the Golden Rams have played in the Sunnehanna Collegiate during the fall season in each of the last two seasons, placing fourth with a 36-hole score of 585 (293, 292) in 2024 and in a tie for third this fall with a 54-hole score of 862 (278, 291, 293), led by Carl, who finished seventh at +2 (68, 70, 74; 212) for the Tournament.
West Chester returns to the Regional Tournament as a team for the first time since 2022, when the Golden Rams made their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Harry Hammond and their first since 2019. West Chester qualified a pair of individuals for the Championships in 2023, as
Connor Strine and
Ryan D'Ariano competed during that season.
Led by an eighth-place individual finish from Brock Fassnacht, which was the highest individual finish by a Golden Ram since Tyler Maiman finished in a tie for sixth in 2016, West Chester finished sixth at the 2022 Regional Championships at Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor, New York, which was the team's best finish under Hammond.
West Chester makes its first regional appearance as a team under the tutelage of head coach
Chris Merce, who is in his third season at the helm after taking the reins in the fall of 2023.
West Chester enjoyed a terrific 2025-26 season, which saw the team post a 295.9 adjusted scoring average in 24 rounds over the course of 11 Tournaments with eight top-three finishes, including four victories with the team's last team title coming at the Cecil C. Spadafora Invitational in mid-April with a 36-hole score of 588 (296, 292), led by top-five finishes by
Yamato Kimura (2
nd - +1; 72, 71; 143) and
Paul-Arthur Roth (4
th - +5 73, 74; 147).
"We finished the year with two really strong regional fields," agreed Merce when asked about playing the Cecil C. Spadafora and Bedford Springs Invitationals to conclude the 2026 regular season. "We played really well in both of those Tournaments and won IUP by a stroke before dropping Bedford by a stroke. The top of the region is probably as open as it has been in a while, but I think the region is also as deep as it has been in a while, so I think there are probably at least 12 teams that have a real chance to go out and secure a spot in the finals with three good rounds of golf this weekend. 54 holes is a lot of golf, and I think it is going to come down to the final round on Saturday, probably even the back nine on Saturday, to see who will make it out of the Regional."
West Chester finished in the top five in every Tournament during the fall, including a PSAC Tournament crown at Iron Valley in late October, when West Chester won its sixth PSAC Tournament crown and first since 2018. At Iron Valley, West Chester put together three excellent rounds of golf, finishing with a 54-hole score of 891 (295, 299, 297) with three Golden Rams finishing in the top-10. Roth led West Chester at the PSAC Championships at +5 (73, 71, 77; 221), while Hilton and Carl took seventh and 10
th with scores of +6 (75, 76, 71; 222) and +8 (72, 78, 74; 224), respectively.
Evan Jozwiak, who is available for West Chester as a sub this week, took 12
th at the PSAC Championships at +9 (75, 74, 76; 225), while Kimura finished in a tie for 22
nd at +17(79, 78, 76; 233).
Roth is the Golden Rams' top-ranked golfer heading into the Championships, ranked seventh regionally with a scoring average of 74.2, including an individual tournament title at the King University Invitational in early September, where he shot rounds of 68 and 65 to finish at seven-under for the Tournament. Roth heads to the Championships with four top-five finishes in 11 tournaments, including a fourth-place showing at the Cecil C. Spadafora Invitational in late April.
Carl is ranked 17
th regionally with a scoring average of 74.4, with his top finish being third at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championships in late October to finish the fall season, along with a seventh-place finish at the Sunnehanna Collegiate during the fall.
Kimura is ranked 18
th regionally with a 74.8 scoring average, with his top finish a second-place finish at the Cecil C. Spadafora Invitational in mid-April, as he helped West Chester surge in the second round to capture its final Invitational title of the season.
Hilton, who picked up his first collegiate victory at the Dr. Edwin B. Cottrell Invitational at Penn Oaks in early April, is ranked 25th regionally with a 74.8 scoring average over 24 rounds in 11 Tournaments.
Radwanski is ranked 42
nd regionally and has a 75.7 scoring average across 20 rounds played over 10 Tournaments. His best finish of the season was a pair of 13
th -place finishes during the fall, including a 13
th-place effort at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championships in the fall finale.
Available as a sub if called upon, Jozwiak enters the Championships ranked 33
rd in the region with a 75.2 scoring average in 24 rounds over the course of 11 Tournaments, including a second-place finish at the WCU Battlefield Classic to open the 2025-26 season and a sixth-place finish at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Championships to finish the fall.
"My final message to the team is going to be on composure and resilience. We know we have a really talented group, and our guys have a ton of confidence in each other, so we just want to be who we've been all year and keep the message positive throughout the weekend. With five guys playing 54 holes in three days, someone is going to hit a rough spot at some point every day, but it's going to be how we work through that and keep playing for the team. If we can do a good job of that, as we've done for much of the season, we have a chance to have a really special weekend.
West Chester will open its stay at the Regional Championships at 11 a.m. on Thursday before returning to the course beginning at 8:20 a.m. for the Second round on Friday. On Thursday and Friday, West Chester will play alongside golfers from Post and Pitt-Johnstown.
