The Waynesburg University women’s golf team headed out to Hermitage, PA on Saturday to compete at the Thiel Women’s Fall Invitational at Avalon Buhl Country Club. The Yellow Jackets competed against seven other teams, six of them being in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. 

Waynesburg brought along three freshmen to try and prove themselves in their first collegiate performances. 

Allison Wolling led the Jackets with an overall score of 100, starting off the front nine with a 53 and improving by six shots on the back 9 to shoot a 47. This led Wolling to place tied for 22nd in the 46 player field. 

Wolling showed that her distance is something to look for by averaging a 6.33 on the long par five’s on Saturday.

“I think I played well pretty well today,” Wolling said. “It was definitely a learning experience but overall I’m happy with how the team played. I felt a little nervous, which I expected. I just tried to stay calm throughout the whole time.”

Following Wolling by just two shots was Lexi Schmadel, carding a 102 on the day. Schmadel matched Wolling with a 53 on the challenging front nine and would improve her score with a 49 on the back nine, placing herself tied for 28th. 

Schmadel turned out to be one of the best wedge players of the day, going up and down multiple times throughout her round. 

“The match overall went well considering that this was our first tournament. It was a great first college match experience and we are excited to improve throughout the season,” Schmadel said about her and her fellow teammates. 

Emmerson Anderson stayed right near her fellow Yellow Jackets by shooting a 103. Anderson shot a 57 on the front nine but then bounced back all the way to a 46 on the back nine to end the day and put herself in a tie for 30th. 

Anderson showed off her accuracy with her irons today by being only three over and having a scoring average of 3.6 on the on five par threes that this course has to offer.

“I think for my first ever college match I did pretty well, the course was challenging to score on considering all the sand traps but nonetheless it was good conditions to play golf in,” Anderson said. 

Assistant coach John Popeck said he was proud of their first collegiate performance. 

“I think it went well. It was their first college event and very proud of how they did; kept their focus, never got down on themselves, and enjoyed playing and competing. It was cool to watch them do what they love.” Popeck said.

Although the Yellow Jackets could not count towards team score, only being able to take three scores instead of a required five, the individuals definitely created some buzz around their first tournament of the season. 

All three women were confident in their games today which is not usual for freshmen athletes, proving that they are ready for anything that comes their way. 

The Yellow Jackets will look to continue this confidence by returning to the tee and traveling to Latrobe Country Club in Latrobe, PA to compete in the Saint Vincent Invitational on Monday, Sept. 15.