Cal State San Marcos emerged as her choice in part because of the presence of Jaime Jacob, who in 2019 became the first national golf champion in Cougars history.

Six years later, Murr is now the second.

The senior joined Jacob in program annals by winning the individual component of the NCAA Division II national championship tournament in Boulder City, Nev., last Thursday.

“Jaime definitely influenced my decision to come here,” Murr said. “She had an amazing career, and watching her success was inspiring and made me want to follow her. To join Jaime as a national champion is really special.”

Murr posted scores of 69, 64 and 69 for a three-round total of 14-under 202, beating Gracie Grant of Dallas Baptist University by three strokes.

“I worked really hard during the tournament on my self-belief and remembering how great I am,” she said. “Reflecting on all my accomplishments and how hard I have worked throughout my career allowed me to believe I could win a national championship. I was able to play freely and trust that I could get it done.”

For her efforts, Murr was named the NCAA Division II PING Co-Player of the Year by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, a program first for CSUSM. She posted a scoring average of 71.1 with five victories and eight top-two finishes this season.  

Cougars golf coach Greg Hutton was especially proud of Murr’s performance after the disappointing way that her 2024 season ended. Leading the same national tournament after two rounds, she succumbed to an illness and struggled down the stretch, ultimately placing sixth.

“Maddy is relentless. She’s the hardest worker that I have ever coached and puts everything she has into every tournament she plays,” Hutton said. “I think Maddy has a tremendous belief in herself. I’m pretty sure she went into the national championship knowing and believing that she could win. Don’t get me wrong, she gets nervous just like every other girl out there, but she has this great ability to get locked in and focus on hitting one shot at a time.”

On the same day that Murr won the individual title, the Cougars secured the No. 2 seed in the eight-team match play round of the team championships. Their season ended Friday with a 4-1 loss to Central Missouri in the quarterfinals, but in the larger picture, they reached the NCAA national tournament for the third year in a row and fourth time overall.  

“I can’t say enough about this entire team. What an incredible group of young women,” Hutton said. “CSUSM women’s golf is a national power. I think we legitimately have one of the best programs in the country, and producing another national champion will help us continue to be a top D-II golf program.”

After leaving a rich legacy at CSUSM, Murr will continue her golf career. She plans to turn professional this fall when she attends the LPGA Qualifying Series.

“I am extremely proud and honored to be a national champion,” she said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to end my college career.”

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Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Five players, each plays his or her own ball. The lowest four individual scores combine for the team score.

So, just go as low as you can and don’t worry about anyone else, right? Well… wrong.

“It is an individual sport, but our focus is coming together as a team,” said Greg Hutton, CSUSM men’s golf head coach. “Without a team concept and believing in each other and having a common goal as a group, you won’t really achieve anything.”

The sentiment is echoed by the women’s head coach, Cindy Naval.

“When our players go out there, they realize that they’re not only playing for themselves, but they’re playing for the group,” she said. “With that in mind, they go out and try that much harder to play and score well.”

The Cougars’ mentality paid off last season, as each program registered historic campaigns in their 15th year of existence.

The CSUSM men finished third at the NAIA National Championships, had two players named All-American, won their first-ever Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference championship and spent the entire year in the top five of the national ranks.

The Cougar women followed suit by winning five tournaments, placing third or higher in five others and finishing fourth in the NAIA National Championships — a program best. Moreover, the Cougars shared the lead through two rounds at the national tournament.

So how do both teams repeat last year’s successes?

Four starting athletes return for the 2013–2014 season, including sophomore Alyssa Waite, junior Vanessa Chap and senior Lisa Copeland. Throw in a couple of competitive freshmen, Taylor Coover and Christina Trujillo, the Cougar women’s lineup appears just as deep as its 2012–2013 counterpart.

“The future looks very bright,” said Naval. “My goal is to continue to bring in freshmen players that will continue to build the team. One thing I love about this group of players is that they all want to play well for each other and they have each other’s backs.”

After debuting at No. 3 in the Golfweek College Preview rankings, Naval’s Cougars won the Embry-Riddle Fall Invite by a whopping 21 strokes in September. Coover won the individual title and Chap finished third.

On the men’s side, sophomores Ryan Odom and Scott Shefflette are the only returners; however, they aren’t your typical underclassmen. As freshmen, Shefflette and Odom competed in every tournament, both were named GCAA/PING All-Americans and they combined for nine rounds in the 60s. 

With a couple of talented freshmen and a NCAA Division I transfer, this team looks poised to compete on the national level. 

Kevin Cline led the Cougars to the team title in September’s California State Intercollegiate, taking home medalist honors in his first collegiate tournament. Fellow freshman Braeden Koran and University of Oregon junior transfer Ben Itterman have showcased the ability to go low early on in the season.

“The expectation of the team is to come together as a group throughout the year and work their tails off to have a chance to win on the final day of the national tournament in Florida,” explained Hutton. “If we do that, then we’ll have a chance to reach the goal of winning a national title.”

Both the men’s and women’s squads will have the entire fall to gel before coming together for a spring season that will decide whether each program gets to compete for their first-ever national championships.

“When you get out there and there are five athletes playing for four scores that count, you always have to believe that you’re doing this for your team. When you’re struggling out there, it’s easy to say as an individual that you’re done. But you’ve got to be able to take a step back and realize that you have four other athletes depending on you. That’s when you get more focused and more determined to be successful out there,” said Hutton.

On every shot, it’s one player, one ball, one club. But more importantly, it’s one team.

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