NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport senior Katie Watson has been named the Colonial Women's Golf Conference Player of the Week after her performance at the Inaugural Historic Triangle Invitational earlier this week. She becomes the second CNU player to garner recognition in the newly formed CWGC after Gabi McGehee earned the honor in the first week of the season. 

Watson helped lift Christopher Newport to a top-ten finish at the Historic Triangle Invitational on October 20-21. The tournament was played at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa River Course in Williamsburg, Virginia -- the same course that hosted the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championship. 

The senior from Mechanicsville, Virginia fired a nine-over 153 (78-75) and tied for 22nd in the event. The tournament featured 12 nationally-ranked teams and 25 of the top 75 individual players in Division III according to the most recent Scoreboard rankings. Watson finished 22nd among them after a dominant second round with a season-low three-over 75. Her second round was a top-15 performance on the day and one of the best 25 scores of the 158 total rounds played in the two-day event. 

Watson was particularly impressive on the short holes and led the tournament field with a one-under 2.88 average on the four Par 3 holes. She recorded seven birdies over two days and finished with the sixth most in the 79-player field. She added 15 pars in the 36-hole tournament and had the best finish of the tournament for CNU. 

In the second round, Watson put together an incredible 12-hole stretch in which she was three-under par. She birdied back-to-back holes when she dropped in a three on the 349-yard par four 1st and a birdie two on the 140-yard par three 2nd. By the end of the two-day tournament, Watson had birdied over a third of the total holes on the challenging River Course with all seven birdies coming on different holes. 

Powered in part by her impressive performance in the home tournament, Watson leads the team in scoring average with a career-low 78.0. She has played in all eight rounds this Fall and lowered her career scoring average to 80.5 through 56.5 rounds of play. 

The Colonial Women's Golf Conference is in its first year of existence after being approved for active NCAA Division III single-sport conference status effective September 1, 2025. The CWGC includes founding members Babson College, Carlow University, Christopher Newport University, Kean University, Penn State Altoona, Salisbury University, and Stockton University. 

The first CWGC Championship Tournament will be held next week at the Wyncote Golf Club in Oxford, Pennsylvania from October 27-28. 

Colonial Women's Golf Conference Player of the Week - 2025-26
Sept. 11 - Gabi McGehee, Christopher Newport
Sept. 17 - Vanya Bansal, Babson
Sep. 24 - Krista Brosius, Salisbury
Oct. 1 - Katie Yang, Babson
Oct. 8 - Vanya Bansal, Babson
Oct. 16 - Maci Lorigan, Carlow
Oct. 23 - Katie Watson, Christopher Newport