PALM COAST, (Fla.) – After a sluggish opening round that saw them trail by eight strokes, the Bethel University women’s golf team dialed up two fabulous days on the Conservatory Course to pull away from the field, winning by 26 strokes over runner-up Wayland Baptist (Texas) and winning the NCCAA National Championship in convincing fashion.
The opening round was a battle as Bethel’s carded a team score of 325. The Pilots were led on day one by freshman Ellie Webster’s 78, but that was the only score in the 70’s for Bethel with Izzy Aigner (80), Selah Unwin (82) and Karisa Dyer (85) battling to keep Bethel in the hunt going into day two.
Round two didn’t look much better as the margin widened to 15 shots after the first 9 holes. As Bethel entered the difficult stretch of holes 11-15 on the back-nine, the entire tournament took a turn as the Pilots seemingly flipped the switch and lit up the final nine holes to the tune of even-par as team. Bethel finished 306 on the day, and atop the leaderboard by 15 shots over the University of Northwestern (Minn.) going into the final round.
Selah Unwin was fantastic on the day, carding a career best even-par 72, but it was Bethel’s depth that came up big time as Izzy Aigner added 77, Karisa Dyer 78, Ellie Webster 79 and Megan Bishop 80. It was a barrage of Bethel birdies that colored the leaderboard on the afternoon as Bethel’s 14 total birdies for the round carried them through the treacherous inward nine.
In the final round, that 15-stroke margin briefly sputtered to 12, but Bethel once again surged in the middle of the round, jumping out by 22 shots after the 10th hole and cruising in the rest of the way with an impressive team score of 311 and a national championship. All five Pilots scored in the 70’s in the final round, led by a pair of 77’s by Aigner and Bishop, a 78 by Unwin, and a pair of 79’s by Dyer and Webster.
“This group of ladies never ceases to amaze me,” said Bethel coach Christopher Hess. “We didn’t have our best in the opening round, but we absolutely grinded our way to stay in contention. We knew that if we could stay close in round two, anything could happen going into the final round,” added Hess. “Then, we didn’t get off to the start we wanted in round two, but in that critical moment going into the back nine – when it was now or never, all 5 of our players decided it was NOW, and they blitzed the field the rest of the way and really never looked back. I am so happy for this group of ladies because all season long, in different moments when we needed it, each and every one of them stepped up in a big way. They do that because they are very talented, but even more so, they show up because of a love that they have for each other. We are not defined by a score, a win or even a championship but in these moments, win or lose, we will always give God the glory!”
Bethel finished with three players in the top seven individually, all earning All-American honors, led by Selah’s 82-72-78-232 (third place), Izzy’s 80-77-77-324 (fourth place) and Ellie’s 78-79-79-236 (seventh place). Christopher Hess was also named the NCCAA National Coach of the Year, his fourth honor in the last five years.
For Unwin, extra baggage will be required for the return flight home as she racked up a lot of hardware. The tournament was an accumulation of an incredible four-year-run that includes two NCCAA Scholar Athlete awards, 3 NCCAA National Championships and four NCCAA All-American honors.
Selah was also named the 2025 NCCAA Dan & Kelly Wood Award recipient. She shared, “Each practice session, each tournament, each shot hit prepared us to compete at this national championship. We all showed up as a team for three competitive days and finished strong. To God be the glory.”