Wheeling, W. Va. - Last week, some of the best amateur golfers across the state of West Virginia competed at the Club at Cress Creek for the 2025 West Virginia Women's Amateur Championship. Former Cardinal Emily Holzopfel was among the events participants and finished third in the competition field with a score of 224 (+8) across the three rounds of competition. The former Mountain East Conference (MEC) Women's Golfer of the Year finished just seven strokes behind the event's champion as she continues her post college playing career.
The event kicked off on Sunday, July 13th, with the first 18 holes of competition and it would be the best round of the event for Holzopfel. She would shoot a 71 across the 18 holes, shooting an even par for the day. After hitting par on hole one, she picked up the first of four birdies on the day to get to –1. She would add two more birdies on the front nine and finished an even par after nine holes. She duplicated her performance on the back nine and would sit in the top spot after the first round. Holzopfel would hold a two stroke lead on the competition field heading into day two of action and looked to continue her success on the course.
As she entered day two of the event, Holzopfel would continue to battle for the top spot, shooting a 74 (+3) in round two. She would add two more birdies to her event total and had her best showing on the front nine, where she shot a +1. With 18 more holes to come on the final day, Holzopfel would hold a one stroke lead over Morgantown's Alyssa Zhang as she looked to finish the event strong. Her final round would see her shoot 79 (+8), putting up a +4 on both the front and the back nine. She would end up finishing third in the competition field finishing at +11 over the three days of competition. It equalled her third place finish from a year ago competing against the best of the best in the women's amateur scene.
During her four seasons in a Cardinal uniform, Holzopfel was one of the most decorated golfers in Wheeling Women's Golf history. She finished as a two-time First Team All-MEC award winner, taking home the conference's Women's Golfer of the Year award during the 2021 season. In that same season, she led the Cardinals to their first-ever team appearance at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships. She also played as a member of the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team, where she helped lead the Cardinals to the MEC Women's Basketball tournament in each of her four seasons. She would cap her athletic career by winning the Female Intercollegiate Athlete of the Year award, given annually to the top graduating female student-athlete for their achievements across their entire athletic career.
The Wheeling University Women's Golf team will kick-off the 2025 Fall season on Thursday, September 4th, when they host day one of the Wheeling Invitational at 9 AM.
