Ithaca College Athletics

The Ithaca College women's golf team began full varsity play in the 2009-10 season after establishing roots with a pre-varsity season in 2008-09. At that time, Dan Wood was installed as the first head coach in program history and with assistant coach Sandi Wood alongside immediately began recruiting and developing the team with an aspiration of challenging the best teams in the nation.
 
The team made its varsity debut in the fall of 2009 with a dual-match victory over William Smith on the Country Club of Ithaca course. Ithaca finished seventh in its first full invitational tournament at St. Lawrence, while the highlight of the program’s inaugural season was a sixth-place finish at the Cortland Fall Invitational with a team score of 750. Freshmen Brooke Llobell and Jackie Young led the team in stroke average during the initial campaign and both earned All-Empire 8 First Team honors.
 
A pattern of continued improvement has been established in each subsequent year. The 2010-11 season saw Ithaca capture its first tournament title when the Bombers secured the Empire 8 Championship with a score of 744 at Blue Heron Hills in Macedon, N.Y. One week later, Ithaca won the William Smith Invitational and later took third in the ECAC Metro Championship with a record team score of 716. During the spring portion of the schedule, Ithaca placed first in single-round tournaments at Elmira and at home at CCI. Freshman Amanda Failla finished fourth in the conference tournament and would go on to have a tremendously productive four-year career as a lineup regular for Ithaca College. Ithaca's team scoring average per round was 366.3.
 
In the 2011-12 season Ithaca repeated as Empire 8 champions and also won tournament titles at the ECAC Championships and Nazareth Spring Invitational. The team scoring average per round dropped by 27 strokes to 339.3. It was the debut season for players Sharon Li and Kelsey Baker, each of whom made an immediate contribution to the lineup. They were joined by Failla and Young as four players posted season averages of less than 90 strokes per round. Ithaca began to receive recognition in the national coaches polls at the end of the 2011-12 season.
 
The Bombers became nationally ranked for the first time in the 2012-13 season and narrowly missed earning qualification to the NCAA Championships as a team. However, Li did represent the Bombers as an individual in the season-ending NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships and she placed tied for 10th among all players and posted a final-round score of 73. Throughout the year Ithaca proved itself among the elite powers in the Northeast Region. Ithaca placed in the top-three in five different tournaments in the fall season with wins at the Empire 8 and the Martin/Wallace Invitational at Cortland. The win at Cortland saw Ithaca place ahead of nationally-ranked opponents Amherst and Middlebury. Li earned First Team all-America honors from the Women's Golf Coaches Association.
 
Ithaca continued its growth in the 2013-14 season and earned its first team selection to the NCAA Division III Championships. The Bombers placed tied for fifth in the elite competition. Li was the WGCA Player of the Year and became the first player to compete for an NCAA Championship and was also named all-American by the Women's Golf Coaches Association of America. Ithaca won its fourth straight conference title and added tournament wins at St. Lawrence, Amherst and Wittenberg. Ithaca's stroke average per round for a four-player lineup was 318.86. The win at Wittenberg included a second-round team score of 311, which tied the best single-round team score in school history. The two-round total of 627 matched the program-best total set at the Empire 8 Championships earlier in the year.
 
The Bombers followed its historically successful 2013-14 season with another excellent campaign in 2014-15. Although the program was unable to qualify for its second straight NCAA Division III Championship appearance as a team, Ithaca finished no lower than third in its nine competitions as a team. The Bombers took home a team title in five of those events, which included their fifth consecutive Empire 8 Conference Championship. The team also set a new program record for a single-round four-player team score with a 308 in the second round of the Martin & Wallace Invitational.
 
IC had three golfers record sub-80 per round scoring averages during 2014-15; Li paced the trio in her senior season, qualifying for her third straight NCAA Division III Championship. She carded a Top-10 finish in all 10 of her events on the season, which included nine Top-5’s and three individual titles. She posted a four-round cumulative score of 317 (+29) at the NCAA Division III Championship, finishing in a career-best tie for ninth overall. She was named a WGCA Second Team All-American and was the recipient of Ithaca College’s Iris Carnell Senior Athlete of the Year Award, in addition to being a nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
The Bombers ushered in a new coaching era during the 2015-16 season, as the program’s inaugural coaching tandem of Dan and Sandi Wood announced their retirement following the 2014-15 season. Molly Braid was hired as the program’s second head coach, while Li stayed on staff as a graduate assistant coach.
 
Although the team’s scoring average saw a bump up, the Bombers were still able to post four Top-5 team finishes on the season, which included the program’s sixth-straight Empire 8 Championship. Sophomore Indiana Jones enjoyed a breakout season posting a scoring average of 79.57 on the year. She carded Top-10 finishes in five of her seven events on the year, which included individual titles at the Empire 8 Championships in the fall and the program’s home invitational during the spring season. Jones was named Empire 8 Golfer of the Year, while Braid took home the conference’s Coach of the Year honors.

In 2016-17, the Bombers once again won the Empire 8 Championship during the fall season and posted four Top-4 finishes during the spring session. Peyton Greco would be named Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. 

The 2017-18 season was a transition for all involved. Ithaca moved its conference affiliation to the Liberty League and Keith Batson was named the program's next head coach. In that inaugural year, IC won two team titles during the fall season and was sitting in second place after day one of the Liberty League Championships, but the final day was canceled due to inclement weather. Batson would earn his first Coach of the Year honor at the conclusion of the season, while Indiana Jones was named Golfer of the Year.

The following year, Peyton Greco continued to elevate her game and was named Liberty League Golfer of the Year as she carded a scoring average of 79.1. The Bombers finished fourth at the Liberty League Championships as IC finished with five other Top-5 finishes on the season.

In 2019-20, the spring season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so no awards were handed out. The Bombers posted a pair of second place finishes during the fall season and won their match play event during spring break before the season came to a halt. 

The pandemic dragged into the 2020-21 season, but that did not phase IC when it returned to action in the spring. The Bombers posted one of their best seasons in program history as IC won the Liberty League Championship to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. IC swept all major awards in 2020-21, as Greco was named Golfer of the Year, Cristea Park was Rookie of the Year and Batson once again earned Coach of the Year. All five golfers were named All-Liberty League as IC finished 19th at the NCAA Division III Championships in Lansing, Mich. 

IC was able to play a full season of competition in 2021-22 and finished third at the Liberty League Championships. The Bombers posted a low round of 307 on the season, and new school record, as Cristea Park would be named to the Liberty League Second-Team.

The Bombers earned two team titles during the fall season in 2022-23, including their home invitational at RaNic, which IC set a new school record of 626 for a two-round event. Rheanna DeCrow and Cristea Park were named All-Liberty League at the conclusion of the championship, as DeCrow finished fourth overall.

In 2023-24, the golf program returned to full strength and won two team tournaments - the St. Lawrence and Ithaca Invitationals. IC also finished in the top five in three different events, including a tie for second at the Liberty League Championships. The Bombers would set new school records at the Liberty League Championships with a two-round total of 623 and a single round low of 305. Cristea Park was a first-team honoree with a fifth place finish, while Annika Michel and Helena Winterberg were named honorable mention.

Ithaca won five events in 2024-25 and set new school records once against for 18 and 36 holes. The Bombers went under 300 for the first time in program history as IC carded 293 in the Cortaca Cup. A week prior to that, IC set a 36-hole record with 609 in the Ithaca Invitational.
 
Updated 6/11/25