Women's Golf
Williams, Ryan
Ryan Williams
- Title:
- Head Coach
- E-Mail Address:
- willi33r@cmich.edu
- Year at CMU:
- 4th year at CMU
- Hometown:
- Potsdam, N.Y.
- Alma Mater/Year:
- Rochester/2011
The three seasons that Ryan Williams has led Central Michigan women’s golf have concluded with the best Mid-American Conference Championship finishes in program history.
Williams’ Chippewas have finished third, fifth and seventh in the 10-team season-ending tournament; prior to his arrival, the program had finished better than 10th just once (eighth in 2022).
Under Williams, CMU set a program record with a MAC Championship 36-hole scoring record when it shot 617 in the 2025 tournament at Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Ind.
Ella Zanatta capped an outstanding freshman season when she earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team, becoming the third Chippewa to capture all-conference honors. Williams has coached all three of those student-athletes, including three-time honoree Ashley Goh.
Under Williams’ tutelage, graduate student Hailey Katona earned five top 10 finishes and Zanatta posted four in 2024-25. Among Zanatta’s four top 10s was a victory while averaging a team-best 76.04, the fourth best season average in program history.
Zanatta’s win came in April at the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio, when she posted an even-par 142 total, the second best 36-hole score in program history. Zanatta led the Chippewas to a runner-up finish in the event, marking CMU’s top team finish of the season.
Zanatta headlines a strong core of players who will return for Williams in the 2025-26 season. Included in that group is junior-to-be Rachel Niskanen, who was third on the team with a 77.79 scoring average and posted a team-best 11th place finish at the 2025 MAC Championship.
In 2024, Williams coached Ashley Goh during her outstanding senior season, bringing to a close the career of the most successful player since the program was resurrected in 2014-15.
Goh, who holds or shares the program 18-, 36- and 54-hole scoring marks, finished sixth in the MAC Championship in 2024, marking her sixth top 10 of the 2023-24 season and her record 15th career top 10 as she earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team.
She followed that with an appearance in the prestigious PGA Works Collegiate Championship.
Named by Zyzelewski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan to head the program in July, 2022, Williams led the Chippewas to top three finishes in six of their 11 tournaments in his first season in charge of the program.
Among those top three finishes were victories at the Shirley Spork EMU Invitational in Ypsilanti and the Nevel Meade Collegiate in Louisville, Ky. He led CMU to a third place finish at the MAC Championship at Kalamazoo Country Club in April, marking the program’s best placing at the event.
Williams’ protégés Casilda Allendesalazar and Goh combined to finish first in four of the 11 tournaments in which CMU competed in ’22-23, and the Chippewas collectively posted 18 top 10 individual finishes among 34 top 20 placing on the season. Allendesalazar posted the best 18-hole average (74.20) in program history, leading the Chippewas to a record 304.1 average.
Williams came to CMU with an impressive background in teaching and student-athlete development and a proven track record in developing a quality team environment. He served for one season in charge of the Cleveland State program in 2021-22 and before that led Adrian College for eight years and Clarkson College for two.
At Cleveland State, Williams led the Vikings to five top three placings including a tournament victory as his squad posted a head-to-head record of 78-29 (a .729 win percentage). Two of Williams’ student-athletes earned All-Horizon League honors and the Vikings placed third in the 2022 nine-team league championship.
Williams served as the men’s and women’s coach at Adrian from 2013-21, spearheading the effort to build the program’s indoor golf center. Williams began his coaching career at Clarkson as a volunteer assistant from 2011-13 while also serving as the assistant dean of undergraduate admissions.
A native of Potsdam, New York, Williams earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in financial economics from the University of Rochester, where he was a two-time Division III Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scholar All-American, a two-year team captain, twice earned First Team All-Liberty League honors, and twice was named to the All-University Athletic Association First Team.
In 2008, he was named the UAA Player of the Year and the UAA Rookie of the Year.
Williams’ Chippewas have finished third, fifth and seventh in the 10-team season-ending tournament; prior to his arrival, the program had finished better than 10th just once (eighth in 2022).
Under Williams, CMU set a program record with a MAC Championship 36-hole scoring record when it shot 617 in the 2025 tournament at Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Ind.
Ella Zanatta capped an outstanding freshman season when she earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team, becoming the third Chippewa to capture all-conference honors. Williams has coached all three of those student-athletes, including three-time honoree Ashley Goh.
Under Williams’ tutelage, graduate student Hailey Katona earned five top 10 finishes and Zanatta posted four in 2024-25. Among Zanatta’s four top 10s was a victory while averaging a team-best 76.04, the fourth best season average in program history.
Zanatta’s win came in April at the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio, when she posted an even-par 142 total, the second best 36-hole score in program history. Zanatta led the Chippewas to a runner-up finish in the event, marking CMU’s top team finish of the season.
Zanatta headlines a strong core of players who will return for Williams in the 2025-26 season. Included in that group is junior-to-be Rachel Niskanen, who was third on the team with a 77.79 scoring average and posted a team-best 11th place finish at the 2025 MAC Championship.
In 2024, Williams coached Ashley Goh during her outstanding senior season, bringing to a close the career of the most successful player since the program was resurrected in 2014-15.
Goh, who holds or shares the program 18-, 36- and 54-hole scoring marks, finished sixth in the MAC Championship in 2024, marking her sixth top 10 of the 2023-24 season and her record 15th career top 10 as she earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team.
She followed that with an appearance in the prestigious PGA Works Collegiate Championship.
Named by Zyzelewski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan to head the program in July, 2022, Williams led the Chippewas to top three finishes in six of their 11 tournaments in his first season in charge of the program.
Among those top three finishes were victories at the Shirley Spork EMU Invitational in Ypsilanti and the Nevel Meade Collegiate in Louisville, Ky. He led CMU to a third place finish at the MAC Championship at Kalamazoo Country Club in April, marking the program’s best placing at the event.
Williams’ protégés Casilda Allendesalazar and Goh combined to finish first in four of the 11 tournaments in which CMU competed in ’22-23, and the Chippewas collectively posted 18 top 10 individual finishes among 34 top 20 placing on the season. Allendesalazar posted the best 18-hole average (74.20) in program history, leading the Chippewas to a record 304.1 average.
Williams came to CMU with an impressive background in teaching and student-athlete development and a proven track record in developing a quality team environment. He served for one season in charge of the Cleveland State program in 2021-22 and before that led Adrian College for eight years and Clarkson College for two.
At Cleveland State, Williams led the Vikings to five top three placings including a tournament victory as his squad posted a head-to-head record of 78-29 (a .729 win percentage). Two of Williams’ student-athletes earned All-Horizon League honors and the Vikings placed third in the 2022 nine-team league championship.
Williams served as the men’s and women’s coach at Adrian from 2013-21, spearheading the effort to build the program’s indoor golf center. Williams began his coaching career at Clarkson as a volunteer assistant from 2011-13 while also serving as the assistant dean of undergraduate admissions.
A native of Potsdam, New York, Williams earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in financial economics from the University of Rochester, where he was a two-time Division III Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scholar All-American, a two-year team captain, twice earned First Team All-Liberty League honors, and twice was named to the All-University Athletic Association First Team.
In 2008, he was named the UAA Player of the Year and the UAA Rookie of the Year.
Day 2 MAC Championship
Thursday, April 24
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Wednesday, April 17
Sights and Sounds of Women's Golf's A-Ga-Ming Invitational
Wednesday, September 06
Women's Golf MAC Championship Recap
Tuesday, April 25
