Women's Golf 10/9/2025 8:39:00 AM Jack Belcher - Athletics Communications Assistant

PREVIEW: Women's Golf at Panther Invitational

MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan University women's golf team will head to Augusta, Michigan, to compete in the Panther Invitational (GLIAC Preview) at Stoatin Brae Country Club. The 'Cats travel to the lower peninsula to compete in the two-day tournament, hosted by Davenport, from Saturday, October 11th to Sunday, October 12th.

The Field has eleven teams represented, with strong regional and conference competition. The field includes GLIAC teams Davenport (#75,10), SVSU (#90,14), Purdue NW (#125,24), and UW Parkside (#157,36). Top regional teams in the competition include Ohio Dominican (#104,17), Northwood University (#115,20), Lewis (#130,26), and West Chester University (#139,27). (2024 Rankings).

About the Course
Unlike any other championship golf course in Michigan, this emerald jewel sits at one of the highest points in Kalamazoo County and commands sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. In terms of play, Stoatin Brae is wide open, windswept, and fast & firm. Playing at 6742 yards from the tips, you'll have to shoot 71 for par at Stoatin Brae. This is a special course whose dramatic design inspires golfers to play their best.

Weather Report
As of writing, the weather in Augusta calls for sunny skies and approximately 70-degree weather on both Saturday and Sunday. Winds will be below 10 miles per hour and the skies should remain clear of precipitation over the course of the weekend. It should be excellent weather for the tournament this weekend.

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Last Time Out
The NMU women's golf team finished eighth at the Flyer Fall Intercollegiate.

The 'Cats finished the tournament in eighth of nine teams, finishing with a three-round total of 1,007 (+143).
Maddy Martens added a top-20 finish to her resume, finishing 17th as an individual with her three-round total of +27. Martens' 5.00 scoring average on the par-fives was good enough for T4 on the field, her five birdies was good for T8, and her 27 pars was T12.

Matching Martens for the team's best score in the third round, Payton Donnelly finished second on the team and T23 overall with her three-round total of +31. Donnelly carded her fourth birdie of the tournament today, coming on the par-four 16th. Just missing the top-25 and right behind Donnelly was Abbie Pietila, who finished the three-round tournament at T27 with a score of +35. Pietila carded a score of +15 in round three, with a lone birdie on the par-four 17th.

Aavra Relich rounded out the team scoring, finishing at T41 with her score of +50. Relich shot her best round in the final round, including adding her lone birdie of the tournament on the par-four ninth. Olivia Brill rounded out the field, shooting +23 in all three rounds to finish at +69.

Previously at The Panther Invitational
The NMU women's golf team finished 10th of 13 teams from the DU Panther Invitational last season.

Martens was the top finisher for the 'Cats on the weekend, placing 28th individually.
She started on hole 12 and was seven-over through her first seven. Starting with a par on hole one, Maddy would shoot +1 in her final 11, including a birdie on the par-3 11th to finish her round. Maddy's round of +8 (80) brought her weekend total to +15.

Hailey Bolander (+11, 83 - two-day total of +24) and Abbie Pietila (+11, 83 - two-day total of +25) rounded out the team scoring for the 'Cats, and finished T47 and 49th as individuals.

Gabriella Moreau (+17, 89 - two-day total of +36) completed the Wildcat golfers.

Notes on the Field:

Davenport - The Panthers began their season by finishing 6th out of 15 teams at the Ohio Dominican Champions of Women's Golf Tournament. They followed that up with a 4th-place finish out of 13 teams in the Wayne State Warrior Invitational. The following weekend, the team finished 6th out of 13 teams at the Ferris State Bulldog Invitational. Earlier this week, they finished 9th out of 10 teams in the Grand Valley State Gilda's Club Invitational. The 54-hole tournament at The Flyer Invitational was split into 36 holes on Monday and the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Davenport was just two strokes shy of the school record with a 927 and placed second as a team.
- Davenport has had a strong start to the season, with Venetia Chap and ThaiLee Gerding finishing in the top 25 in both of the team's first two tournaments. Lauren Gervais was in the top 30 at both the Ohio Dominican and the Warrior Invitational. At the Bulldog Invititational, Gervais finished 17th with a +11, and just behind her was Melissa Walker, finishing in 20th with a +12. Hannah Robinson had her best performance this season, finishing 27th, and Chap finished in 33rd. At the Gilda's Club Invitational, Chap and Gerding again led the way as they finished in 13th (+7) and 23rd (+11), respectively. At The Flyer Invitational, Davenport had four golfers inside the top 10 on the leaderboard. Venetia Chap placed third with a total of 226, which was four strokes shy of the school record. It was just one stroke off her own school record, accomplished twice last season as a freshman. Lauren Gervais tied for fourth with a total of 231. ThaiLee Gerding took sixth place with a score of 233 and Melissa Walker tied for ninth with rounds. Hannah Robinson tied for 24th to conclude a strong Panther performance
Purdue Northwest - The Pride began their season by finishing 12th out of 15 teams at the Ohio Dominican Champions of Women's Golf Invitational. They followed up that performance with a 13th-place finish out of 13 teams at the Warrior Invitational hosted by Wayne State. They finished 10th out of 13 teams at the Fall Bulldog Classic. Purdue NW ended up finishing 5th out of 9 teams this week at the Flyer Invitational.
- At the Ohio Dominican Invitational, Purdue had three top-50 finishers: Wen-Yi Hung finished in 33rd (+23), Brynlee DeBoard finished in 43rd (+27), and Chia-Hsuan Lee finished in 47th (+28). At the Warrior Invitational, Lee led the way as she finished in 51st (+37). For the Pride, Lee again led them at the Bulldog Classic as she finished in 25 (+14). Just behind her was DeBoard, who finished in 35th at +17. The Pride were led by Hung again at the Flyer Invitational, who finished tied for 12th and Lee tied for 15th. Behind them, Catherine Swiercz finished in 25th and Brynlee DeBoard concluded in 35th. Elle Mowry rounded out the lineup in 40th.
Parkside - The Rangers opened its season by finishing 9th out of 13 teams at the Wayne State Warrior Invitational. Earlier this week, they finished 10th out of 10 teams at the Grand Valley State Gilda's Club Invitational. At the Warrior Invitational, the Rangers posted a team score of 319 in the first round, breaking the program's 18-hole team record. Over the course of three rounds, Parkside set a new 54-hole team record with a total score of 975, improving the previous mark by 44 strokes. At the GVSU Gilda's Club Invite, the Rangers set a new program-best 36-hole team score with a total of 655 (+79). The mark shattered the previous record by 27 shots.
- At the Warrior Invitational, Parkside was led by Lily Zicarelli in 20th (+17), closely followed by Aj Powell in 29th (+21). Powell and Zicarelli again led the way for the Rangers at the Glida's Club Invitational. Powell finished in 26th (+12), and Zicarelli claimed 30th place with a +13. At the Flyer Invitational, Freshman Lily Zicarelli led the way with her first collegiate top-10 finish, placing in a tie for ninth at +22. Zicarelli was outstanding on the par-3 holes, playing them in just one over par across the tournament, which was the second-best mark in the field. Junior AJ Powell tied for 18th at +28 and Dulce Gefke finished 26th at +31.
Lewis - The Flyers opened their season by finishing 8th out of 12 teams at the UIndy Invitational. They then finished 6th out of 13 teams at the Warrior Invitational. They finished 7th out of 10 teams at the Glida's Club Invitational. This week, they finished 1st out of 9 teams at the Flyer Invitational they hosted.
- At the UIndy Invitational, the Flyers were led by Kyra Simon and Kendall Farm, who finished in 23rd and 25th overall. The Flyers were once again led by Farm and Simon at the Warrior Invitational, as Farm finished tied for 5th at +4 and Simon finished in 17th at +16. Again, at the Glida's Club Invitational, Farm and Simon paced the Flyers in 8th and 16th, respectively. At the Flyer Invitational, The top two individual spots went to Lewis as Sophia Lawler shot a 223 (+7) to win the tournament, while Kendall Farm was second with a 225. Behind them, Hannah Higgins finished in 8th (+20) and Eve Garvey tied for 12th (+23). Maia Becker snuck into the top 20 and finished in 18th (+28).
SVSU - SVSU began their 25/26 season finishing 8th out of 9 teams at the Folds of Honor Challenge that took place on September 15th-17th. SVSU finished 8th at the Warrior Invitational. The Cardinals followed up that performance with a 9th-place finish out of 13 teams at the Bulldog Fall Classic. At the Laker Glida's Club Invite, they finished 6th out of 10 teams.
- At the Folds of Honor, SVSU had Andie Martin, Christina Nagy, and Mayson Southland finish in the top 40. In the Warrior Invitational, they were led by Christina Nagy in 13th. Andie Martin and Marissa GeRue both finished in the top 40 at the Warrior Invitational. The Cardinals were again led by Nagy in 9th (+8) and Southland in 27th (+15) at the Bulldog Fall Classic. Andie Martin finished in 35th (+17). At the Glida's Club Invite, Nagy again led the way with a +6 that landed her in 11th place.
Ohio Dominican - The Panthers opened their season by hosting the Champions of Women's Golf Classic, in which they finished 8th out of 15 teams. Next, they finished 10th out of 13 at the Warrior Classic hosted by Wayne State. Earlier this week, they traveled to Findlay, Ohio, to compete in the William Beall Fall Classic and finished 14th out of 17 teams.
- In their Women's Golf Classic, the Panthers were paced by Maria Briceno Vargas, who tied for 6th place with a 151 (+11). She led the Panthers with four birdies in the tournament, which was tied for 6th most overall. Sydney Devore finished with a 161 (+21) tied for 28th place and Meg Saffell tied for 37th place with a 164 (+24). In the Warrior Classic, Sydney Devore had the best tournament for the Panthers in a 17th-place tie, where she totaled 232 (+16) and tied for the 8th-most pars in the tournament with 34. Alyssa Rishty finished second best for the Panthers, tied for 47th place with a 250 (+34) as an individual, as she scored her collegiate low round of 78 along with rounds of 88 and 84 and had the most birdies for the Panthers with five. Marissa Cline finished one stroke behind Rishty at a 251 (+35) in 50th place. In the William Beall Fall Classic, Ohio Dominican was led by Devore in 45th (+24) and Cline in 48th (+25).
Northwood - The Timberwolves began the season by finishing 9th out of 15 teams at the ODU Champions of Women's Golf Classic. They followed that up with a 5th-place finish out of 13 teams at the Wayne State Warriors Invite. Their team score of 934 at the Warrior Invite was a new 54-hole program record, bettering the old mark of 940 from the 2021-22 season. Earlier this week, they finished 15th out of 17 teams at the William Beall Fall Classic.
- At the ODU Women's Golf Classic, Nemo Cheewasupakorn led the way in 19th (+17) and Paulina Martinez was not far behind in 25th with a +20. Cheewasupakorn led the way again at the Warrior Invitational as she finished 11th with a +10. Behind her, Sydney Dausman finished in 17th (+16), Ava Weeks was in 25th with a +20, and Paulina Martinez finished with a +24 in 33rd place. Cheewasupakorn led the way once again at the William Beall Fall Classic as she tied for 37th overall with a +22.
West Chester - The Golden Rams have had a spectacular season thus far. They finished first in all 3 of their tournaments so far, including at the WCU Battlefield Classic they hosted, at the Millersville Fall Classic in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, and at the King University (Tennessee) Invitational. They did attend the Alvernia Fall Invitational this week, but with only 3 individuals traveling to the invitational, their team competed as individuals at that invitational rather than as a team.
- At the WCU Battlefield Classic, Cara Murphy opened her college career with back-to-back 75's to finish at +6 (75, 75; 150) and win the individual title at the WCU Battlefield Classic. The Golden Rams' second team in the field was led by a third-place finish from Taryn Brandt at +11 (78, 77, 155). Murphy was one of four Golden Rams in the top three as Hanna Lignell, Margaux Solis and Brandt all finished in a tie for third at +11. The Golden Rams followed up that performance with a performance where all of their golfers finished in the top 15 at The Millersville Fall Classic. They were led by another tournament win by Murphy, followed by Hanna Lignell in 2nd and Brandt in 4th. Just behind them, Margaux Solis and Cierra Griffith (Griffith competed as an individual) finished tied for 6th place overall at the Fall Classic. At King University, it was more of the same as Lignell won her first ever tournament championship and Cara Murphy finished in 5th with Fatima Rizvi right behind her in 6th. All members of the top finished in the top 20 in the Invitational. Most recently, 3 members competed as individuals at the Alvernia Fall Invitational, in which Emilee Barkley tied for 29th, Molly Gregor finished in 32nd and Myra Glass tied for 34th.

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Players Mentioned

Hailey Bolander: 5' 1"; Redshirt Junior

Olivia Brill: 5' 7"; Senior

Payton Donnelly: 5' 10"; Junior

Maddy Martens: Sophomore

Gabriella Moreau: 5' 6"; Senior

Abbie Pietila: Sophomore

Aavra Relich: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Hailey Bolander
: 5' 1"; Redshirt Junior

Olivia Brill
: 5' 7"; Senior

Payton Donnelly
: 5' 10"; Junior

Maddy Martens
: Sophomore

Gabriella Moreau
: 5' 6"; Senior

Abbie Pietila
: Sophomore

Aavra Relich
: Freshman