With a new golf season comes a new head coach for WCU’s men’s and women’s teams as Chris Merce takes over the role this year.
Merce coached at Arcadia University for seven years prior to joining the WCU staff. He led the Knights to multiple MAC Freedom Conference runner-up finishes.
Merce has plenty of collegiate level golf experience. He played for Saint Peter’s College where he was a two-year captain for their team. He had successes post-collegiately in local golf tournaments as he won the Westchester County Public Link Championship in 2010, 2015 and 2017. The Westchester County Public Link Championship is a local amateur competition for men and it is for members of the Westchester Golf Association.
Coaching can vary greatly between individual and team sports. The culture around improving one’s own performance that is largely unaffected by teammates is vastly different then in sports where a teammates performance can directly affect another’s.
“It’s a lot different than team sports where a coach comes in to try and implement a system,” Merce said.
Both the men’s and women’s teams have strong athletes who can go far this season including a strong freshman class.
“We’ve got good players on our roster but we also have a great group of people,” Merce said. “Culture’s something that I’m really big on.”
Merce has enjoyed a warm welcome to West Chester Athletics.
“The first few weeks were a lot to get settled into,” Merce said. “It’s just been really welcoming and I’m appreciative of everyone.”
The Golden Rams he is coaching have also welcomed him to WCU.
“We’ve got a great group of players on both teams,” Merce said. “They’ve been really welcoming to me.”
The women’s golf team has thrived under Merce. The team finished second in the Cal Vulcan Invitational to start off their season.
Merce stated that he is proud of the women’s golf team after a successful start. The women’s team has more recently finished second at the Dr. Wally Edgell Invitational. Sophomore Kirsten Vanderhorst finished second individually.
The men’s team has enough talent to perform well, but has fallen short.
“It’s tough to play catch up, so we need a little more consistency on our men’s side,” Merce said.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will look to improve their play in the upcoming two tournaments of the season.
“I think there’s a lot to build on,” Merce said.
The men’s side finished fifth at the Cal Vulcan Invitational with junior Connor Strine tying for ninth place among over 90 athletes.
Recently in the Dr. Wally Egdell Invitational, the men’s team placed 15th. Strine led the team with a finish tied for 31st.
Freshman Luke Fazio competed at both invitationals and is looking as a solid start to his college career.
Ty Hickey is a third-year Media and Culture major with a minor in Chinese. CH983713@wcua.edu