West Columbia, S.C. – Western Carolina junior Sadler Miller carded an opening-round score of 1-over par 73 to pace the Catamounts in a three-way tie for second after 18 holes at the 2025 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship being contested at the par-72, 6,182-yard Solina Golf Club. WCU sits in seventh place after the first round, just two strokes outside of the top five and three strokes in arrears of fourth place.
Round two of the championship begins with set tee times off both the front and back nine in threesomes at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Live scoring through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd, can be found on CatamountSports.com or by clicking here.
Competing in just her second SoCon Women’s Golf Championship, Miller carded her best round at the champion-crowning event on Monday, countering three bogeys and a potential round-changing triple-bogey with five birdies for her 1-over par round.
Opening on the back nine, the Clayton, N.C., product was 1-over par after three holes, sandwiching a birdie between two bogeys. Her second birdie on the par-5 16th let her make the turn to the front even on the day. Miller parred the par-4, 282-yard No. 1 to move to 1-under par. But a triple-bogey on the 150-yard par-3 second relegated her to 2-over par for the day. She was able to rebound, though, carding two more birdies against a third bogey to shoot 73.
Catamount teammates senior Elizabeth Lohbauer and true freshman Ella Kovak are tied just outside the individual top 10 in a five-way tie for 12th place with matching scores of 4-over par 76. Both Lohbauer and Kovak were among just three golfers who carded eagles during Monday’s first round.
Lohbauer was 2-over par through five holes when she eagled the par-5, 482-yard 15th to move back to even. A third bogey had her making the turn at 1-over par. On the front nine, the Venice, Fla., product countered four bogeys with her lone birdie of the day on the par-5 sixth for the opening-day 76. Kozak was even through three holes with a bogey and a birdie before a trio of bogeys left her 3-over par at the turn. Two of her three front-nine bogeys were countered by the eagle on the par-5 sixth as the Yorkton, Saskatchewan, product finished the day in the 12th-place tie.
Miller and Lohbauer are tied for fourth in par-5 scoring after 18 holes at 2-under par (4.60). Miller is also tied for first in par 4 scoring at 1-under (3.88), with Kozak pacing the field in par-3 scoring (2.80, -1) with Lohbauer in fourth (3.20, +1).
Rounding out WCU’s scoring five are true freshman Annalee Caveney in a tie for 41st with a first-round score of 89 and senior Kaitlyn Wingnean in 43rd at 90. The two both carded a birdie among their opening 18 holes.
Furman leads the 2025 SoCon Championship by eight strokes over second-place UNCG, and the Paladins’ Audrey Ryu holds the individual lead after the first day of competition.
Ryu carded a 6-under 66 in round one, setting a Solina Golf Club women’s course record. The Paladin sophomore holds a seven-stroke lead over three golfers who are tied for second place, who are Western Carolina’s Sadler Miller, UNCG’s Lulu Leetham, and Mercer’s Mikayla Dubnik.
Furman, who is ranked No. 86 nationally, the highest ranking amongst SoCon teams, shot 7-over-par 295 during round one. UNCG is in second after shooting a 15-over-par 303. UNCG entered the tournament as the fifth-ranked team in the conference (112th) according to the Clippd Rankings.
Led by Violeta Hernandez, who is tied for seventh on the individual leaderboard, Chattanooga is in third place, three strokes back from UNCG. Wofford is in fourth after a first-round score of 23-over-par 311. The Terriers are led by Regina Parra, who is tied for 12th at 4-over-par 76. ETSU and Mercer are tied for fifth at 24-over-par 312.
Western Carolina, Samford, and The Citadel rounded out the field at seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively.
Action resumes on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m., and concludes on Wednesday with the tournament champion earning the SoCon’s bid to the NCAA postseason.
2025 Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship
Solina GC – West Lexington, S.C. – Par 72, 6,182 yds
1 – Furman – 295 (+7)
2 – UNCG – 303 (+15)
3 – Chattanooga – 306 (+18)
4 – Wofford – 311 (+23)
T5 – ETSU – 312 (+24)
T5 – Mercer – 312 (+24)
7 – Western Carolina – 314 (+26)
8 – Samford – 317 (+29)
9 – The Citadel – 356 (+68)
7 – Western Carolina – 314 (+26)
T2 – Sadler Miller – 73 (+1)
T12 – Elizabeth Lohbauer – 76 (+4)
T12 – Ella Kozak – 76 (+4)
T41 – Annalee Caveney – 89 (+17)
T43 – Kaitlyn Wingnean – 90 (+18)
