Miles Rochester, Sports Editor
The women and men belonging to the College of Wooster’s golf program took to the road for a weekend invitational trip. The female Scots traveled to Lexington, Kentucky to participate in the Transylvania Fall Invitational, while their male counterparts stayed closer to home, commuting to Hinckley, Ohio to compete in the Baldwin Wallace Fall Invitational. Both teams, playing in their second event, looked to make a name for themselves and prepare for conference play.
The women performed exceptionally well over the course of their two-day tournament, resulting in broken records and a third place finish behind two nationally ranked teams. The Scot women’s players shined, with Melissa Burtscher ’24 and Ada Pan ’26 leading the pack with tying low scores of 72. Burtscher not only impressed her teammates and peers with her low score, but she also posted the second eagle in Wooster’s program history on the first hole of the course. Through the first day of the tournament, Wooster had tied its program low round record at 318. Phenomenal play on the second day led to this same record being broken by a whopping 11 strokes, finishing the day at an extremely impressive 307. When playing 36 holes in one day, the average human might ask how it is possible for a golfer to stay consistent. For Pan, a Division I transfer and NCAC Athlete of the Week (for the second straight week), this experience was just another day on the course. “I have played a lot of 36 holes in one day,” Pan admitted. “Additionally,” she continued, “our school provides a pretty great practice space for us, which has been a huge help in preparing for tournaments.” Pan, whose favorite hole on the course was the eighth, believes that this performance is only a glimpse of what the team can accomplish.
While the women triumphed in Kentucky, the men found their swing at Baldwin Wallace, also placing third place in a highly competitive field. A notable performance came from first-year NCAC Athlete of the Week Gabe Guthrie ’26, who shot an even par at the tournament. Guthrie, who sank two birdies this weekend, led the Scots’ “A” squad, as well as topping all other Division III athletes at the event. Another great round came from David Dennis ’24 who led the “B” squad with a score of 77.
Sam Norris ’25 shared his thoughts about the current squad and why this year is a special one for the Scots, claiming that “this group has some of the best team chemistry and also some really great depth.” Part of that chemistry could be credited to the fact that this is the first time during Norris’ time at Wooster that a team captain was named. “They’ve stepped up,” Sam said, praising the team’s leaders, “and it can only get better not having any seniors leaving us after this year.” The women will once again try to break records at the Heidelberg Fall Invitational on September 16-17, while the men will move forward from a positive weekend and strike again at the Mount Union Fall Invitational on Sept. 24-25. Go Scots!
The Wooster Voice 