Mount St. Mary’s Women’s Golf Opens Season in 15th After First Round at Bucknell Invitational
Mount St. Mary’s women’s golf opened its 2026-27 season Friday at the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, finishing the first round in 15th place with a team score of 336, 56-over par. Freshmen Camryn Hoff and Makenna Kamnikar led the Mountaineers on the opening day, each shooting an 83 to finish tied for 62nd individually.
The Bucknell Invitational is being played at Bucknell Golf Club, a par-70 layout measuring 5,901 yards. The three-day, 54-hole tournament includes 14 programs, among them host Bucknell, Columbia, Duquesne, Fairleigh Dickinson, La Salle, Le Moyne, Manhattan, Mercyhurst, Saint Joseph’s, UAlbany, New Haven, Wagner, West Chester and Mount St. Mary’s.
Hoff and Kamnikar provided the Mount’s best scores during the opening round at 13-over par. Their rounds gave Mount St. Mary’s two freshmen at the top of its lineup in the first competitive round of the new season, an encouraging sign for a roster that entered the year with only three returning players.
Graduate student Kate Watanasiripong finished one stroke behind Hoff and Kamnikar with an 84, 14-over par, placing her in a tie for 73rd. Freshman Arianna Gonzalez carded an 86 to finish tied for 80th, while freshman Summer Stroop shot a 91 and stood 86th. Junior Savannah Doughty competed as an individual and posted an 88, placing her 85th after the opening 18 holes.
The opening-round results reflected just how young Mount St. Mary’s is this season. Hoff, Kamnikar, Gonzalez and Stroop are all freshmen, meaning four of the six Mount golfers who competed Friday were playing their first collegiate tournament rounds. Watanasiripong provided veteran experience as a graduate student, while Doughty represented another returning presence as a junior competing individually.
At the top of the team standings, Columbia led the field after posting a 290. Bucknell sat second, while Columbia’s B team held third place. Individually, Christine Chang of Columbia’s B team and Bucknell’s Joelle Johnson shared the first-round lead after each shooting even-par 70.
The Bucknell Invitational represents the beginning of a busy fall schedule for Mount St. Mary’s. After the tournament concludes Sunday, the Mountaineers have a quick turnaround and will host the Charge at Quail on Monday and Tuesday at Quail Valley Golf Club in Littlestown, Pennsylvania. The fall schedule also includes Lehigh’s Autumn Harvest, the Navy Invitational and the Lehigh Invitational.
Mount St. Mary’s is coming off a 2025-26 season in which it finished sixth at the MAAC Championships. Naomi Yacyshen led the Mount at that event with a three-round total of 228, 12-over par, and tied for 16th individually. With a younger roster taking over this fall, tournaments such as Bucknell provide important early-season experience before the Mountaineers get deeper into their schedule.
MSB Take
The standings are not where Mount St. Mary’s wants them to be after one round, but this tournament is also about development for an extremely young lineup. Having two freshmen, Hoff and Kamnikar, tie for the team lead in their first collegiate tournament is a positive sign, especially with both players showing they can immediately contribute to the scoring lineup.
The biggest opportunity for the Mount over the final two rounds is simply cutting down a handful of strokes across the lineup. With four freshmen competing, there are naturally going to be growing pains early in the season, but getting this type of tournament experience immediately should help. Mount St. Mary’s has two more rounds at Bucknell to build momentum before turning around almost immediately for its own Charge at Quail tournament.
