Women's golf at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh started in 1936 as a Women's Athletic Association (WAA) activity. At this time, Cecille J. Barnett directed women's sports. New equipment was available for women to use and instructions were given at Maxy Golf Course. Any woman who was interested in playing could come - regardless of their ability. This activity lasted until 1943. Throughout these years, golf was one of the many activities women had to participate in to receive an "O". The requirement for a first year participant was that they had to participate in three golf practices. A second year participant had to golf 27 holes to receive a pin. Golf was a very popular spring activity among the women. They participated until exam week (Quiver and Advance).

Golf came back to Wisconsin State University - Oshkosh again in the late 1960s. Margerie Tate, a professor in the physical education department, was the volunteer golf coach during this time. She retired in the 1980s. Golf was conducted on both the intramural and extramural levels. They usually played at Lakeshore Golf Course. In 1971, Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WWIAC) began. This was the start of contracting for women's golf. Prior to contracts, the coaches would choose a date to play and then call the coach from another school to see if they were interested in competing. This system needed to change. One year, Stevens Point was scheduled to challenge Oshkosh, in Oshkosh. They arrived an hour late because they thought 3:00 was the time the bus was leaving. Oshkosh, however, was ready to tee-off at 3:00. After this incidence, the coaches realized they needed to be more organized. In the early years of women's sports, there were no awards for winning. The award was intrinsic motivation and satisfaction of accomplishment.

Golf ended in 1973 after Title IX was passed. In 1973, the Women's Athletic Association decided they could not fund all the sports that were offered. They cut four sports: golf, tennis, softball, and field hockey. This upset the females on campus. In protest, they staged a funeral for all the women's sports that were cut. Janet Mueller of Oshkosh borrowed a casket from the funeral home and they placed a dummy in it. They then placed sporting equipment in the casket. Channel 11 was there to take pictures and interview the people involved. Glen Lloyd, the action man from Channel 11, received interviews from people such as Eric Kitzman, Ken Allen, Jim Flood, and Phyllis Roney (Briwa, 1999).

In 1996, 23 years after it was cut from the program, golf once again became an intercollegiate sport for women at The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. This is mainly due to the fact that UW-O needed another women's sport to meet the requirements of Title IX. Another reason for adding golf is that it is relatively easy and inexpensive to begin. The popularity of the game brought on by Tiger Woods has helped the growth of golf.

Out of the nine schools in the conference, five schools have a golf team. The schools include Oshkosh, Whitewater, Stevens Point, Superior, and Eau Claire. Platteville will be joining in1999.

Depending on the weather, the traditional season starts in August and lasts through mid October. Also depending on the weather, the non-traditional season begins in April and lasts through mid June. Oshkosh participates in both seasons.

The first year Oshkosh competed, they placed fourth in the conference. Two years later, they lost conference by only six strokes. Oshkosh is Division III for golf. For the past three years, they have been competing against Division II teams in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship. Starting next year, there will be two separate championships. Coach Schoonover is very excited about this (Schoonover, 1999).

In 1998, Oshkosh placed four golfers in the top eight All Conference WIAC standings. They were Cindy Treadwell, Nicole Toeppe, Jamie McAlister, and Markka Farrington. This is a remarkable accomplishment.

Golf team, undated