Moving Up to Division I

When Mary Weinstein was being recruited, the college golf offers she received included ones from the NCAA Division I ranks, but ultimately the Highlands Ranch resident decided to play golf and go to school in her home state at Regis University, which plays at the Division II level.

But Weinstein, the 2016 Girls Player of the Year for the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado and the 2015 CWGA Junior Player of the Year, will be a DI golfer after all.

The 2016 5A girls state high school champion and former Hale Irwin Elite Player will transfer to the University of Denver and begin playing for the Pioneers this fall as a sophomore, DU announced on Friday.

In her lone season at Regis University, Weinstein was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Golfer of the Year and finished 22nd in the Women’s NCAA Division II Championship Finals.

Last summer, Weinstein won two Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado major championships. Nationally, she finished fifth in the Optimist International Junior and 15th in the Junior PGA Championship in 2016.

“We know that Mary will make an immediate impact on our program because she can go low and shoot under par and is has a very consistent game and swing,” said DU women’s head coach Lindsay Kuhle, who will be taking maternity leave during the fall semester, meaning assistant Kolton Lapa will be the interim head coach during that period. Melissa Martin, a former DU player and a three-time CWGA Stroke Play champion, will serve as an assistant coach in the fall.