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2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf National Champions

'The Best Season in the History of DII Women's Golf'

2021-22 Women's Golf Schedule and Results

Pictured

Asst. Coach Justin Roth - Kristina Kniesly - Gabby Woods - Erin Mulcahy - Jill Schmitmeyer - Mary Kelly Mulcahy - Sarah Scarpill - Coach Dominic Guarnieri

Gainesville, Georgia – 2022 Division II Women's Golf National Championship

At the end of a season that begins in the middle of September, only one team is left standing. In 2022, that team was the University of Findlay.

Perfection.

It is defined as the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. It is so frequently sought after and yet so rarely achieved. One miscue, one false step and what otherwise might be without blemish becomes tainted.

This spring, the Findlay women's golf team had no miscue. They did not falter. They were perfect.

Since January, the Oilers participated in eight tournaments, taking the title in every single one and putting together arguably the best season in the history of Division II women's golf.

No event was bigger than the final tournament of the season which was played on Saturday, May 14 in Gainesville, Georgia at the Chattahoochee Golf Club where the Findlay Oilers claimed the NCAA Division II National Championship, the first in program history.

"It's unbelievable", said head coach Dominic Guarnieri, who has now led his team to the national championship tournament six times. "To do what they did this spring, it'll never happen again. Eight-for-eight. This is once in a lifetime."

Saturday's championship match was not without drama as the eighth-seed Oilers, ranked seventh in the country, were matched up against the three-seed and third ranked team in the country, Limestone University.

The Oilers were coming off of medal match play wins against #1 Dallas Baptist University and #5 Barry University while Limestone had defeated #11 West Texas and #4 Anderson.

Findlay sent out their lineup the same as they had in the national semifinal.

Senior Jill Schmitmeyer was first out and did she ever deliver.

Schmitmeyer made par on the first hole to go up by two shots and four holes later, she hit arguably the best shot of her life, making an eagle-two on the par four fifth hole. The message had been sent that this match was going to belong to the Oilers.

Meanwhile, Kniesly, who along with Schmitmeyer had not lost in medal match play this tournament, was also taking control. Findlay's fifth-year senior, playing in the final round of her career, punished her opponent to the tune of a four-shot lead through nine holes after shooting a 37 (+1) on the front.

Behind Kniesly, freshman Mary Kelly Mulcahy was in a battle. M. Mulcahy had not lost in medal match play yet this tournament, but that would change on Saturday. The Lima, Ohio native trailed by three at the turn and, despite tying her match by the 11th hole, ended up falling by three after shooting a 77 (+5).

Sophomore Gabby Woods was in a back-and-forth match, as well, trading leads multiple times throughout the front nine. Tied through nine holes, Woods' opponent played the back nine at even-par, securing the point for Limestone.

Behind Woods was freshman Erin Mulcahy. In the first two matches, E. Mulcahy had been matched up with the opponents' top player and had come up short in both matches. On Saturday, she was again matched with Limestone's top player, Ebba Hellman who finished the stroke play event in a tie for eighth, earning all-American status. E. Mulcahy, on the other had, was tied for 35th in stroke play and played the event as the Oilers' number five.

Under the most intense pressure, the freshman delivered.

Before E. Mulcahy came in, Schmitmeyer had asserted her dominance as the first match home. Schmitmeyer broke her opponent's will, making birdie after birdie to secure a score of 69 (-3), her best round of the national championship. That performance gave the St. Mary's, Ohio native an eight-shot victory and officially put a point on the board for the Oilers.

The score was 1-0.

Kniesly closed her round with an incredible performance of her own. The senior went on a tear, shooting a back-nine score of 33 (-3), making birdie on the final two holes of her college career. On 17, a short par three, she left herself just five feet for birdie, which she made. On her final hole, fighting the tears that come at the end of a five-year, all-American career, Kniesly hit the uphill approach to the 18th green and it was, again, perfect. The shot dropped out of the sky to just three feet. The birdie gave Kniesly a 70 (-2) and bested her opponent by five shots.

The score was now 2-0.

Mary Kelly Mulcahy and Gabby Woods came in next, both trailing by two shots on the final hole. Forced to try and make something happen, both players failed to make par, each taking a loss on the hole.

The NCAA DII National Championship came down to one match. Erin Mulcahy, Findlay's number five, against Ebba Hellman, Limestone's number one.

In the quarterfinals, Mulcahy had lost by eight strokes, and in the semifinal, she lost by six. Personal pride, along with a national title, was on the line Saturday.

E. Mulcahy trailed by three through nine holes. However, she never wavered. Focusing on controlling what she could control, the Lima, Ohio native went shot-for-shot with one of the nation's top players. A birdie on 10 made the deficit two shots. Par on 11, and the margin was just one. Through 14 holes, a birdie by Hellman had given the Saints top player a two-shot lead.

On the 15th, E. Mulcahy made a clutch birdie while her opponent made bogey. The match was even, causing an uproar on the 18th green where the crowd had seen the score updated on a large video board.

Hellman, a graduate senior, two-time all-American, and the South Atlantic Conference Golfer of the Year, tightened up, while the Oilers' young freshman, who last season was playing high school golf at Lima Central Catholic, remained calm and collected. Mulcahy made par on the par-five 16th. Hellman found the bunker, leading to a double-bogey.

E. Mulcahy had a two-shot lead with two holes to play.

Hellman had a birdie look on 17 but missed, while E. Mulcahy had a 60-footer, which she three-putted for bogey.

One shot lead. One hole to play. National championship on the line.

Both players put their drives in the fairway with E. Mulcahy to play first. She found the front right bunker. Hellman went next and hit the top-tier of the green, pin high, 20 feet from the hole.

Mulcahy, peeking her head up over the edge of the deep bunker, got out of the sand and was left with 15 feet. Hellman went first and did not hit her putt well, leaving it about four feet short of the hole.

E. Mulcahy then had 15 feet to win the national championship. The uphill putt was sent tracking towards the hole and burned the edge, leaving a tap-in bogey.

Hellman was faced with four feet to force a playoff. With a crowd of a hundred or so gathered around the green, cameras pointing in from all directions, the seasoned veteran was certainly feeling the pressure of the moment. She missed on the right side of the hole, sending the Oilers into a frenzy.

National champions. Perfection.

Talking about Erin Mulcahy, Coach Guarnieri said, "She's got so much toughness. She doesn't care who she's playing. That last putt on 18 was perfect, I don't know how that didn't go in. But her fight was incredible. She never gave up. I'm super proud of her."

While this championship is the first for the program, it has been close on multiple occasions, making each of the previous two medal match play events and competing in now six national championship tournaments since 2014.

In 2021, the Oilers were the three seed and lost in the quarterfinals while in 2019, Findlay was seeded eighth, also being defeated in the first round.

This team was different.

Despite being seeded eighth through 54 holes of stroke play, this group of girls knew that they had not yet played their best golf, and went on to prove it, running through a gauntlet of national powerhouse schools to claim the program's first national championship.

Coming into this season, the expectation for this program was high as they had achieved a national ranking of sixth to start the season. The first tournament of the year, the team finished sixth. Then runner-up. Then runner-up again. Then runner-up again. In the final tournament of the fall, runner-up…again.

The brisk winter of northwest Ohio rolled in and this team decided, runner-up was not good enough.

March 15th. Findlay wins the Bobby Nichols in Sevierville, Tennessee.

March 20th. Findlay wins the SVSU Spring Invitational in Georgetown, Kentucky.

March 22nd. Findlay wins the Findlay Spring Invite in Lexington, Kentucky.

April 5th. Findlay wins the NC4K Classic in Blacklick, Ohio.

April 12th. Findlay wins the Cav Classic in Canton, Ohio.

April 19th. Findlay wins the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship.

May 4th. Findlay wins the NCAA DII East Regional.

May 14th. Findlay wins the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championship.

A season as free as possible of all defects. A season without blemish.


Perfection.

Findlay is the only team in the history of Division II women's golf to play and win eight tournaments in a spring season and is the first team with a perfect spring since Nova Southeastern went 7-for-7 in 2011, making Findlay's 2022 spring the best season in the history of Division II Women's Golf.

Awards

Dominic Guarnieri (Head Coach)

2022 NCAA DII National Coach of the Year
2022 NCAA DII East Region Coach of the Year
2022 Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC)

Kristina Kniesly

2022 NCAA DII First Team All-American
2022 NCAA DII All-East Region
2022 G-MAC Player of the Year
2022 First Team All-G-MAC

Jill Schmitmeyer

2022 NCAA DII Second Team All-American
2022 NCAA DII All-East Region
2022 First Team All-G-MAC

Mary Kelly Mulcahy

2022 NCAA DII Honorable Mention All-American
2022 NCAA DII All-East Region
2022 G-MAC Freshman of the Year
2022 First Team All-G-MAC

Gabby Woods
2022 First Team All-G-MAC

Erin Mulcahy
2022 First Team All-G-MAC