WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University women's golf team is set to head West to get its 2026-27 season underway on Thursday as the Golden Rams head to Cedarbrook Golf Club in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, for the 2026 Vulcan Invitational.
Led by fourth-year head coach
Chris Merce, West Chester will look to continue its upward momentum in 2026-27 as the Golden Rams finished second at the PSAC Championships once again and returned to the NCAA East Regional Championships for the second time in program history and the first time since 2019 as an at-large.
At the PSAC Championships, West Chester finished just eight strokes back of defending Champion, Gannon, as the Golden Rams fired a 946, while the seven-time Champion Golden Knights finished the weekend with a 54-hole score of 938.
Fatima Rizvi (Lucknow, India/RPS Academies) tied for fourth in her PSAC Championship debut with a 54-hole score of +18 and is the top returner from the 2025-26 edition of the Golden Rams.
A few weeks later, making its first appearance in the Regional Championships as an at-large selection, West Chester battled through difficult, rainy conditions to finish a program-record ninth with a 54-hole score of 974, led by
Hanna Lignell, who finished her collegiate career with a 13th-place finish and a score of +17 (76, 78, 79; 233), while Rizvi was 50
th at +29 (76, 82, 87; 245).
Rizvi is a small part of a strong returning core for West Chester as she is joined by
Cara Murphy (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson), who was named PSAC Freshman of the Year after finishing the season with a 79.6 adjusted scoring average alongside
Emilee Barkley (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown), Taryn Brandt (Denton, Md./North Caroline), Myra Glass (Camden Wyoming, Del./Polytech), Cierra Griffith (Pottstown, Pa./Spring Ford), and Gigi Merino (York, Pa./York Suburban).
In addition to this excellent returning cast, West Chester also welcomes in
Hannah Alan (Dubai, UAE/St. Mary's Catholic) and
Emerson Glending (Westlake, Ohio/St. Joseph Academy) as newcomers to the Golden Ram program.
West Chester will open its season this weekend at Vulcan Invitational before heading to Lewisburg next weekend for the Bucknell Fall Invitational at Bucknell Golf Club. After a week off, West Chester will head to Gettysburg for the WCU Battlefield Classic on September 21-22. West Chester will finish September with a trip to Allendale, Michigan for the Gilda's Club Laker Fall Invitational at The Meadows Golf Club, hosted by Grand Valley State beginning on September 26.
West Chester will conclude its fall season in Erie at the Michael Corbett Fall Classic hosted by Gannon at Whispering Woods Golf Club in Fairview, Pennsylvania on October 11 and 12 to conclude the fall season.
