Canyons Women's Golf Tees Off Aug. 26

College of the Canyons women's golf athletic logo.
August 24, 2024

By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information

Defending 3C2A State Champions College of the Canyons will hit the greens for the 2024 season opener Monday, Aug. 26 at Olivas Links Golf Course in the Chuck Melendez Invitational, serving as the first of seven Western State Conference (WSC) tournaments this season.  

Canyons head coach Gary Peterson is leading a whole new crew in his 26th season with the women's program and this year he is assisted by former women's golfer, Nisha Gaulke. 

Gaulke represented the Cougars for two seasons, once in 2021 where she was the lone Cougar to play at the 3C2A Championship Tourney and then again in lasts year's championship campaign, helping the Cougars bring home the program's fifth state title.

Joining Gaulke in the 2023 State Championship victory were Motoko Shimoji, Flora Peugnet, Brooke Maxwell and Elena Ortuno-Mantalban, with the team posting a two-day score of 660 (340/320) at Hunter Ranch Golf Course. 

Shimoji was named to the All-State Team and is continuing her career at Fresno State University. Peugnet earned All-WSC First Team honors and is set to take her talents at Townson University. 

Now, this season's group of nine new Cougars will look to follow in the footsteps of last year's squad.

Local talents Cierra Coia (Canyon High School), Marianne Meadows (Saugus High School), Karina Ramirez (Hart High School), Valerie Sherman (Saugus High School) and Margie Usrey (Hart High School) will be joined by Mary Johnson-Ostlund (Fillmore High School), Kelly Morikawa-Bygum (Dorsey High School), TinaMarie Stockdale (Polytechnic High School) and Sahya Kitabatake from Kobe, Japan.

Canyons will host its home conference tourney on Monday, Sept. 23 with a return trip to Olivas Links.

The two-day WSC Championships are scheduled for Oct. 27-28 at the Marshall Canyon Golf Course in La Verne.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.