Women’s golf is teeing off at Washburn University in the fall of 2024. The university has been planning to add the men’s counterpart for over five years now.
“Adding a women’s golf team has been under Washburn’s radar for quite some time,” said President JuliAnn Mazachek, courtesy of WUSports. “The popularity of women’s golf, both on the high school and college levels, is growing quickly, and Washburn is excited to add one more option for female student-athletes.”
Even though their season will start in the upcoming fall semester, there are still many pieces that need to fall into place for the program to be steady. The team only consists of one player, so far, and is also in need of equipment for the rest of the soon-to-be roster.
Ronnie McHenry, head coach for both golf teams, said that because the program was approved so late in the season, it will be difficult to find more players because many have already signed or committed to other schools. McHenry is expecting to have a full roster by the time the season starts.
“We only need five players to have a full roster and do plan to have seven players by the fall to fill a full roster,” McHenry said.
McHenry also plans to grow the roster to eight to 10 players, but will have plenty to compete in their upcoming season. There will be no open tryouts, but any who are interested in playing for the team can contact him at [email protected].
Even though the team has its difficulties, McHenry is looking forward to the experience it will be for him and his future players.
“We give the guys a hard time saying ‘Hey, we’re trying to compete for conference regionally and nationally,’ but with the girls, it’s gonna be more like ‘let’s just have fun, play, and we’ll see where we end up,’ at least for this first season,” McHenry said.
He also said that this first year will be more of a project season than a competitive season for the women’s team, but is looking forward to building a good team in the future.
Edited by Jayme Thompson and LeSha’ Davis
