The newly reincarnated Penn State Altoona women's golf program enters its first season this fall with hopes of building upon past successes of individual female golfers at Ivyside, as well as establishing a new winning tradition as a team.

In August 2023, Penn State Altoona Athletics announced that it would be adding women's golf to its NCAA Division III sport offerings. The department previously sponsored women's golf as a team sport in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, but the program has not competed with a full roster since then. While female golfers have played for Penn State Altoona as individuals outside of the team years, the 2024-25 season marks the first campaign in 17 years that the sport will compete with a full roster.

Apart from its two seasons with full teams, Penn State Altoona has seen success from its individual competitors, who combined for five Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference individual titles: Leslie Pavetto (2005), Jenna Rothermel (2006), Ashley Piper (2007, 2008), and Katie Pupillo (2019).

Now, the 2024-25 season marks a revival of women's golf as a team sport at Penn State Altoona. Tom Koehle, in his 19th year as the head coach of the men's golf program, takes the reins of the women's team and is looking forward to the expansion of the campus' varsity golf program.

"I am excited for the opportunity to make women's golf an impactful part of the student-athlete experience at Penn State Altoona and add to the success of Penn State Altoona Athletics," said Koehle. "We have a history of individual success; it is now time to build that into team success in the women's program."

The team's 2024-25 roster is comprised of five student-athletes: senior Isabelle Forcey (Clearfield, PA/DuBois Central Catholic), sophomore Isabelle Dahl (Athens, PA/Athens), and freshmen Alyssa Franks (Altoona, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle), Lauren Thompson (Austin, TX/Anderson), and Sabella Wu (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood). Forcey, Franks, Thompson, and Wu all enter their first years of collegiate golf, while Dahl brings a season of experience after competing for fellow Division III program Wilkes University as a freshman last year.

"Our roster has variable amounts of competitive experience, but they all bring a passion for the game and most importantly a desire to work on their games and improve," Koehle explained. "The work ethic and team bond that has been formed in four short weeks of practice has been unique in my experience and should lead to improvement and success as the year goes on."

Penn State Altoona women's golf gets its 2024-25 season underway with four events during the fall semester. The team begins its schedule on Thursday, September 26, in the Grove City Invitational at Grove City Country Club, then hosts its first event of the year on Saturday, October 5, when it holds the Penn State Altoona Fall Invitational – which will also double as the AMCC Women's Invitational – at Sinking Valley Country Club.

The squad rounds out the fall by hosting Hood College and Susquehanna University in a tri-match at Sinking Valley on Saturday, October 12, then hitting the road to Ford's Colony Country Club in Williamsburg, Va., play in The Melee on Sunday, October 20, and Monday, October 21.

"Our goal is to introduce the team members to Division III golf, and we have designed a schedule to do so. We start out immediately competing at Grove City with several strong PAC schools that are the bar we hope to attain in the near future," said Koehle. "After two home events, we close the fall with The Melee, which will give the team a taste of a full multi-day event and extensive travel against quality opponents."

Penn State Altoona will also compete in several events during the spring semester, including The Ruckus (Mar. 22-23 at Williamsburg National Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.), the Pennsylvania Classic (Mar. 29-30 at the Penn State White Course in State College), and the Penn State Altoona Spring Invitational (Apr. 21 at Sinking Valley).

"Overall, our desire is to provide the best student-athlete experience, improve individually and as a team, and then assess where we are at the end of fall," said Koehle. "We will set up a program over winter to improve and prepare for spring season."