It wasn’t often that Otterbein corralled three-sport athletes from another state, but the Cardinals found a gem in 2007 by attracting up-and-comer Catherine Brunoehler (Van Der Weide) out of New Castle, Ind. Competing around the calendar in golf, swimming and tennis, Van Der Weide did a little bit of everything throughout high school and finished as a 2x state qualifier on the links.

Van Der Weide was heavily recruited at the Division III level and eventually settled on Otterbein, buying the location and the two-hour proximity from her hometown. She arrived on campus in the fall of 2007 and immediately began to impact the women’s golf program on a national stage.

Van Der Weide improved very early on in college from a mental standpoint, admirably working around the golf course and maintaining focus as her career progressed. Nicknamed “Cat,” she posted a stroke average of 81 as a freshman and caught fire late in the spring to land eighth at the NCAA Championships, resulting in her first All-American award. The Cardinals, making their first national appearance, took fifth place as a team in what remains the program’s highest finish ever.

A strong iron player, Van Der Weide hit many fairways and greens but also had the ability to get out of trouble no matter where her second shot was being played from. She finished runner-up at the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships as a sophomore, and again spearheaded the team to another fifth-place NCAA finish by taking ninth individually out of 111 golfers. Those efforts warranted a second All-American honor.

Van der Weide posted eight top-10 finishes as a junior, including a tie for fourth at the OAC’s and tie for 93rd at the national event. An economics major with a minor in math, she was also a standout in the classroom and received 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors as part of the at-large division. Although the team narrowly missed out on a fourth-consecutive league title during her senior year in 2011, Van der Weide captured the elusive OAC medalist honors by topping the field of 41 golfers at Mount Union. Finishing with an impressive 80.6 stroke average, she earned first team All-OAC status every season and catapulted the Otterbein women’s golf program to new heights.

Catherine played for three different head coaches in four years, but has always been known as one of the easiest, most approachable and most consistent players to wear the Tan and Cardinal. Spectators often couldn’t tell whether she came off a birdie or a bogey because she always wore a smile and kept her emotions in check.

She and her husband, Michael, met while working a golf camp together and now reside in Orange City, Iowa where they continue sharing a passion for the game. Catherine works full-time as a financial analyst and is also the head women’s golf coach at NAIA Northwestern College, where the Raiders have two conference runner-up finishes under her direction.

The only women’s golf All-American at Otterbein, Catherine becomes the first player in program history to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.