Abilene Christian
BGSU Women's Intercollegiate
Wildcats Begin Quest for WAC Title
2/10/2025 9:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
ABILENE — One year after a spectacular debut spring championship season, ACU begins the 2025 spring season ranked as one of the top mid-major programs in NCAA Division I women's golf.
The Wildcats will join 14 other teams at the Bowling Green Invitational, to be played Feb. 11-12 at the Wigman Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Arizona. Other teams in the field are Bowling Green, Indiana-Indianapolis, Northern Illinois, Idaho, Montana, Weber State, Northern Colorado, Butler, Stephen F. Austin, Idaho State, UTEP, Eastern Kentucky, and Utah Valley.
ACU is ranked No. 87 in the country in the spring's first women's golf rankings by Scoreboard, Powered by clippd. The Wildcats are the highest-ranked team in the field for the first tournament of 2025; Weber State at No. 150 is the next-highest-ranked team.
Junior Ryann Honea, defending Western Athletic Conference individual champion, will be in the field for the Wildcats, along with senior Sydney Williams, sophomore Jiyu Han, freshman Marissa Loya, and sophomore Manon Guillle. Honea is one of the favorites to win the WAC title later this spring and advance to the regional tournament. And, hopefully, this year, she'll be going to the regional tournament with the rest of her teammates.
Last spring, the Wildcats had a seven-stroke lead over Seattle going into the final round of the WAC Tournament before shooting a final-round 303 to Seattle's 294. The Redhawks won the league title with a three-round total of 892, compared to ACU's 894. And while Honea won the individual title, losing the team title was tough to carry through the summer and fall. But it has provided head coach Rob Bennett a teaching moment for his team.
"Not closing the deal at the WAC Championship last season was a tough pill to swallow," Bennett said. "We haven't spent much time talking about the past, but we all see that week as a learning moment and motivation for this season. We know we are good enough to compete to win the WAC and expect to be in that position again on the final day. Our experience from last season should be valuable when the moment comes, and we expect to put it away this time."
Last year's team finished first or second in eight of 11 tournaments through the entire season, an incredible accomplishment for any program, much less one in its inaugural campaign. Because of that remarkable success, Bennett knew he had to schedule tougher and redefine what success would look like in 2025.
So the goals for 2025 are to win the WAC championship, finish the season ranked in the nation's Top 70, be the top mid-major in Texas (currently third behind No. 69 North Texas and No. 81 Sam Houston State, and beat teams from the Power-4 conferences.
"We knew going into this season that we would not be able to replicate that because of how much better our scheduling is," Bennett said. "So, we had to define what success would look like for us this year. We know that to achieve our goals, we must spend our time and energy on what it will take to make them a reality.
"We're blessed to have one of the best on-campus facilities in the country (The Byron Nelson Clubhouse and The Jim Practice Facility), and the work we can get done there will help put us in a position to succeed," he said. "When we practice and prepare for tournaments, we want to do so in a way that maximizes our potential. Our overall goal is always to give perfect effort. If we do that, we can be proud of ourselves no matter the outcome."
Bennett has a deep team that saw all eight players play in the top five at some point during the four fall tournaments. He said Vollmer and Williams have the game and skill to play significant roles in the team's success. The team's three first-year players – Jasmine Do, Marissa Loya, and Vollmer – made strong impressions early in their careers.
But Honea, one of the country's top mid-major women's golfers, is the team's unquestioned leader. Bennett said that her work in the offseason and through the fall should pay dividends in the spring.
"Ryann has shown consistent improvement, and her game has started to speak for itself this season," Bennett said. "I think a factor in that is her mindset. She doesn't panic if things aren't going her way; she keeps a steady head and uses her confidence in her game to push forward. That has been the most significant step she has taken in the last 18 months, catapulting her to the next level. I wouldn't be surprised to see her win multiple times again this spring."
Players Mentioned
