SALEM, Ore. – Led by medalist Ashley Maki, the Whitworth women's golf team opened the 2026-27 season by winning the Bearcat Invitational, hosted by Willamette University at Salem Golf Club.
Maki shot 74-73 – 147 (+3) to win the tournament by eight strokes over runner-up, and teammate, Stella Fergin (78-77 – 155).
It is Maki's first individual victory of her career and the first by any Pirate since Maddie Hahn in the 2023-24 season.
On the team leaderboard, the Pirates won by 23 strokes over second place Pacific. Whitworth posted team scores of 312-311 for a total of 623. The final team scores were: Whitworth 623, Pacific 646, Linfield 663, Corban 698, Willamette 765, Centralia CC 778.
Naomi Molitor, Emory Crawley and Lily Knight all finished in a seven-way tie for sixth place. Molitor, playing as a non-counting individual, posted a 76-85 – 161 Crawley (83-78 – 161) and Knight (78-83 – 161) had mirror-image rounds for their final tallies. Erin Pierce (82-83 – 165) finished in 14th place.
The Pirates are not scheduled to compete again until the Northwest Conference Fall Classic on October 4-5 at Pumpkin Ridge in North Plains, Oregon.
