The Hilltoppers ended their season with their fourth straight, top three finish. 

After the first two rounds, WKU sat in second place with junior Catie Craig tied for second place individually.

The first and second round of the tournament were played on the first day.

As a team, WKU shot a cumulative first round score of 304.

In the first 18 holes, Graduate student Sarah Arnold and senior Addie Westbrook tied for the low round on the team, both shooting 74. Junior Catie Craig shot 4-over, posting a 76.

Through the second 18 holes, WKU posted a team score of 290, putting them in contention for first place after day one.

Craig posted a 68 to bring her total score back to even. Sophomore Averi Cline carded an even par score of 72. Arnold stayed consistent, shooting another 74 in round two.

Westbrook finished the day with a 76. Sophomore Nina McMurtey improved her score from the first round by 5, shooting a 75 in the second. Sophomore Sydney Hackett also dropped her score from her previous 80 to a 77 in the final round of the day.

In the final 18 holes, WKU finished the tournament with a team score of 300.

Both Arnold and Hackett fired a 73 to close the tournament. Craig posted a 76 in the third round. Westbrook finished on a 78.

WKU Women’s Golf will be back in action Feb. 23-24 to kick off their spring season at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational hosted by Mercer University in Eatonton, Georgia.

3      Catie Craig – 76, 68, 76 

4      Sarah Arnold – 74, 74, 73 

T29 Addie Westbrook – 74, 76, 78 

33   Sydney Hackett – 80, 77, 73 

T38 Averi Cline – 81, 72, 80 

T48 Nina McMurtrey – 80, 75, 82 

Sports reporter Molly St. Clair can be reached at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu.

Senior Connery Meyer led the team in the invitational. Meyer finished as runner-up, which marks his best performance at WKU. He finished the final round with an even-par score, until the final round where he finished 5-under, with a score of 65. This score tied him with the fourth all-time for the lowest round score in school history. 

Two Hilltoppers finished in top five spots on the leaderboard. Junior Stephen Warren tied for fourth overall with junior Nic Hofman. Warren played consistently through the final round and finished with an even-par score. Hofman shot nine birdies to push himself to the top of the board. He landed fourth overall with a 1-over, 211 total score.

Graduate student Luke Fuller placed 7th overall on the leaderboard. This is also Fuller’s best finish while at WKU. Fuller used back-to-back birdies to finish with a 1-under, 69 round score. 

Freshman Gage Doyle made improvements in his last round. Doyle climbed three spots in his final round. He used a 5-over final round to finish at 59th place overall.

The Hilltoppers led the field in birdies and par 4’s. This is Head Coach Austin King’s first victory as a Hilltopper, along with being the first victory for men’s golf in seven years.

“The guys did a great job of being disciplined and patient the entire tournament and really let the good play come to them,” King said. “Maketewah wasn’t playing easy either and they handled it like professionals. Lots of good golf was obviously played by everyone, but how they composed and handled themselves I thought was a true difference maker and will keep us moving in the right direction. I think their best gold is ahead of them and we’re excited to keep getting better this off-season.”

The Hilltoppers Men’s Golf Team has completed their regular season and won’t return until the Spring. They play their first Spring game in February at Rice University to compete in the Bentwater Intercollegiate. 

Sports reporter Morgan Larkins can be contacted at morgan.larkins297@topper.wku.edu

The first two rounds of the tournament were played on Oct. 9. 

After the first 36 holes, WKU shot a cumulative score of 585 (17-over) to find 12th place out of 15 teams.

On the first day, Senior Connery Meyer led the Hilltoppers with two even par scores. He sat in 19th place going into day two. Graduate Student Luke Fuller also posted an even par score in the first round, followed by a 75 in the second 18 holes.

Junior Stephen Warren carded a 76 in the first 18 holes but improved to a 72 in the second round.

On the second day, WKU put up a team score of 296, their highest 18-hole team score of the tournament.

Fuller put together the round low for the Hilltoppers, posting a 73 on the final day of the invitational. Meyer, Warren and redshirt junior Nic Hofman all fired a 74. Senior Aaron Pha closed the tournament with an 81.

WKU Men’s Golf will continue their season in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Xavier Invitational hosted by Xavier University Oct. 16-17.

T25.  Connery Meyer- 71, 71, 74 (+3)

T39.  Luke Fuller- 71, 75, 73 (+6)

T54. Stephen Warren- 76, 72, 74 (+9)

T62. Nic Hofman- 74, 75, 74 (+10)

83. Aaron Pha- 86, 81, 81 (+35)

Sports reporter Molly St. Clair can be reached at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu.

The 54-hole tournament was played on the Furman University Golf Course from 6,262 yards with a par of 72.

Both the first and second rounds were played on day one of the tournament. After the first day, the Hilltoppers stood in second place overall.

In the first 36 holes, Craig fired a 67 and 71 to find a spot on the leaderboard going into day two. Finishing even on the day, sophomore Averi Cline carded a first-round score of 70 followed by 74 in the second round to find herself tied for 11th place.

Graduate student Sarah Arnold posted a 74 and 73, finding a spot in the top 25 after the first two rounds.

To close the tournament, Craig posted a 70, shooting under par in every round of the invitational. Arnold finished on her best score of the tournament, shooting a 69 to bring her cumulative score back to even and tie for 13th place in the field.

Cline also placed 13th after firing an even par round in the final 18 holes. Senior Addie Westbrook closed the tournament on a 74 with sophomore Sydney Hackett close behind posting a score of 75.

Senior Rachel Rich also finished on her low round of the tournament with a 1-under score of 71.

As a team, the Hilltoppers finished 2-under with a total score of 862.

WKU will continue their season at the Pat Bradley Invitational hosted by Florida International University Oct. 14-16 in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.

2. Catie Craig – 67, 71, 70 (208)

T13. Sarah Arnold – 74, 73, 69 (216)

T13. Averi Cline – 70, 74, 72 (216)

T40. Addie Westbrook – 74, 75, 74 (224) 

T43. Rachel Rich – 73, 80, 71 (224) 

T43. Sydney Hackett – 75, 74, 75 (153) (individual) 

Sports reporter Molly St. Clair can be reached at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu.

Redshirt junior Nic Hofman represented the Hilltoppers in the top 10 with a three-day cumulative score of 8-under.

First round

In the first round, two Hilltoppers, senior Connery Meyer and junior Stephen Warren shot 1-under. Close behind, junior Riley Grindstaff carded an even par score.

Second round

On the second day, Hofman moved up the leaderboard to 25th, firing a 3-under score of 70. Graduate student Luke Fuller also posted a 70 to recover from his day one score by six shots, jumping up 19 spots on the leaderboard.

Grindstaff stayed consistent, putting up another 73.

Third round

Hofman closed out the tournament with a solid 6-under score of 67 which was enough to claim eighth place in the field.

Additionally, Grindstaff fired a 71 to put him at 2-under for the entire tournament. Fuller finished with a final round score of 74.

Hofman led the field in par 3’s at 4-under for the entire tournament. Meyer and Grindstaff placed in the top ten in the field for pars, both with 38 total.

T8. Nic Hofman – 74, 70, 67 – (211)

T27. Riley Grindstaff – 73, 73, 71 – (217)

T34. Luke Fuller – 76, 70, 74 – (220)

T40. Connery Meyer – 72, 74, 77 – (223)

T44. Stephen Warren – 72, 74, 79 – (225)

Next, the Hilltoppers will compete in the JT Poston Invitational hosted by Western Carolina University in Saphire, North Carolina on Sept. 25-26.

Sports reporter Molly St. Clair can be reached at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu.

WKU led the field after the first two rounds on the first day.

Craig grabbed the lead early after bouncing back from her first round score of 3-over with a second round score of 3-under. Graduate student Sarah Arnold followed closely behind with a 72 and 69 to put her at 1-over.

Senior Addie Westbrook fired a 72 and 73 to put herself in contention for the top five. 

After the final round, three Hilltoppers placed in the top five in the field, with the team finding their first win of the season.

Craig posted a strong 4-under score of 66 to secure her first place finish. Arnold met Craig on the podium with a 1-over, second place finish.

Westbrook concluded the tournament with another round of 72 and grabbed fifth place. Sophomore Sydney Hackett and sophomore Averi Cline tied for 13th place with cumulative three round scores of 222. 

Senior Rachel Rich had her low score of the tournament with a 75. Additionally, sophomore Nina McMurtrey closed the tournament with a 76, having improved her score by nine strokes from the first 18 holes.

WKU will hit the road again Sept. 22-24 to compete in the Lady Paladin Invitational hosted by Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

1. Catie Craig – 73, 67, 66 (206)

2. Sarah Arnold – 72, 69, 71 (212)

T5. Addie Westbrook – 72, 73, 72 (217)

T13. Sydney Hackett – 75, 74, 73 (222)

T13. Averi Cline – 73, 77, 72 (222)

T34. Rachel Rich – 79, 78, 75 (232)

T61. Nina McMurtrey – 85, 80, 76 (241)

Sports reporter Molly St. Clair can be reached at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu.

On the opening day of the tournament, teams played the first two rounds. WKU sat in 7th place as a team after the first 36 holes.

Junior Catie Craig led the Hilltoppers after the first day by firing a two round cumulative score of one-under. She shot a 71 in the first round and an even par score of 72 in the second round to find 9th place on the leaderboard after their first day.

Graduate student Sarah Arnold played consistently throughout the two rounds by posting two even par scores. Additionally, senior Addie Westbrook, who played as an individual for WKU, posted a 72 and 77 to place third on the Hilltopper after the first 36 holes.

Craig continued to lead WKU after the final round by firing a 72, keeping her at 1-under par for the entire tournament and 9th place in the field.

Tied at 11th place going into day two, Arnold carded a 73 to finish 3-over par for all three rounds. She finished 12th overall.

Westbrook finished the tournament with a strong even par. She was followed by sophomore Sydney Hackett who posted a third-round score of 73, improving her play from the prior round by six shots.

Sophomore Averi Cline closed her three rounds with a 78 with junior Faith Martin close behind at an 81, putting the pair only one stroke apart for the entire tournament.

WKU will continue their season in the Jennifer Duke Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sept. 11 – 12. 

T9 Catie Craig – 71, 72, 72 (215)

T12 Sarah Arnold – 72, 72, 73 (217)

T22 Addie Westbrook – 72, 77, 72 (221)

T51 Sydney Hackett – 76, 79, 73 (228)

T70 Averi Cline – 79, 76, 78 (233)

72 Faith Martin – 73, 80, 81 (234)

Sports reporter Molly St. Clair can be reached at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu.

King takes over the program after five years as an assistant with the University of Charlotte. Charlotte won back-to-back Conference-USA championships with King on the staff and is getting ready for its third straight NCAA Regional. King will stay with the program during their participation in the Regionals. 

Before his time with Charlotte, King spent two years as a graduate assistant with the University of South Alabama. 

King spent his collegiate days playing with the Hilltopper golf program. King competed in nine tournaments for WKU and had a couple of top-20 finishes. He was part of WKU’s lineup at the C-USA tournament in his Junior and Senior years.

Sports reporter Jake McMahon can be reached at michael.mcmahon480@topper.wku.edu.

In his time with the Hilltoppers, Metts coached two individuals to three tournament medalist titles. Metts also coached two WKU golf superstars Billy Tom Sargent and Stuart Easton during his time on the hill. Sargent became the first Hilltoper to reach the NCAA golf championship during Metts’ tenure. 

“We thank Chan for his dedication to our program over the last five years,” Athletic Director Todd Stewart said in a WKU Athletics brief.  “We wish him all the best with his future endeavors.”

WKU has begun a national search for Metts replacement.

Sports reporter Jake McMahon can be reached at michael.mcmahon480@topper.wku.edu.

The 54-hole tournament was played at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida April 13-15. A field of nine teams played the course at 6,102 yards and a par of 72. 

In the first round, Craig and fifth year senior Kenlie Barrett both carded 69. Senior Sarah Arnold finished 1-under with a 71 and freshman Averi Cline followed closely behind with a 74. Additionally, freshman Sydney Hackett finished the final round with an 81.

On the second day, Craig and Barrett continued to stay evenly matched as they both posted 75. Hackett and Arnold finished with 78’s and Cline posted an 83.

In the final 18 holes, every Hilltopper improved their score from the prior round. Craig finished on a 1-under score of 71 to claim first place. Barrett carded a 73 to find third place in the field. 

Craig and Barrett’s podium placements in the field are the best WKU Women’s Golf has seen in a conference tournament in the program’s history.

Additionally, Arnold fired an even par of 72 to be the third Hilltopper in the top ten at seventh place.

Hackett shot a 76, having dropped her score by five from the first 18 holes. Cline carded a 79 in the final round.

As a team, WKU finished second, just three strokes behind North Texas, who took the championship. The Hilltopper’s overall score of 881 (17-over) is one of the best scores posted in a conference championship in program history.

Craig will advance to the NCAA regional, becoming the first WKU women’s golfer to achieve an NCAA appearance.

1. Catie Craig – 69, 75, 71 – 215

2. Kenlie Barrett – 69, 75, 73 – 217

T7. Sarah Arnold – 71, 78, 72 – 221

T22. Sydney Hackett – 81, 78, 76 – 235 

T27. Averi Cline – 74, 83, 79 – 236

Sports Editor Molly St. Clair can be contacted at molly.st.clair185@topper.wku.edu