At the end of each season, Cal State Fullerton women's golf head coach Kathryn Hosch asks her returning players about their goals and expectations.
"Three years ago, the team finished fourth at the Big West Championship. We didn't play great at conference. We had a young team and were going through a development stage," recalled Hosch.
Katharina Zeilinger, a freshman that season, finished with a 77.8 scoring average. "I asked her what she wanted to score next year, and she said 72. It generally doesn't work that way – it's hard to drop six strokes like that," said Hosch. "But I loved her confidence."
Back home in her native Austria that summer, Zeilinger, who goes by Kathi, averaged under 71 strokes per round while playing for her national team. "She proved me wrong," said Hosch.
In her next two seasons at Fullerton, Zeilinger didn't average 72 but steadily improved. She lowered her average to 74.96 as a sophomore. The next year, she averaged 74.39 and was a member of Fullerton's Big West Championship team, earning Big West Honorable Mention honors.
She is having a breakout season as a senior. Zeilinger averages 71.86 per round, notched two top 10 finishes in the fall and kicked off the spring season by winning the San Diego State Classic for her first collegiate tournament championship.
"Sure, you dream or visualize winning, but for it to actually happen was amazing," says Kathi Zeilinger, who is seen celebrating her first collegiate tournament victory.
Zeilinger carded a 9-under-par 207 to win the Feb. 9-10 event, which was held at The Height Golf Course in San Diego. It was the second-best score
in program history for a 54-hole tournament, behind only Martina Edberg's 206 in 2016. The Titans finished with a 12-under-par 852 to win the San Diego team competition – its first victory of the year.
"Winning in San Diego was a big accomplishment. This is what I have been working towards, what everyone else has helped me with. I'm still super-stoked about it," said Zeilinger, who outperformed 62 other players. She finished three strokes ahead of the runner-up, Santa Clara's Kelsey Kim.
"Sure, you dream or visualize winning, but for it to actually happen was amazing. I opened with a 68 and led by two strokes after 36 holes. I've always been the one chasing the leader. Being in the lead and trying not to lose takes a different mindset."
Zeilinger expanded her lead in the final round with a "birdie train," firing four straight birdies on holes eight through 11. "I holed a 60-foot putt on the 10th hole and a 24-footer on the 11th. After I parred the par-5 15th hole, [assistant coach] Linley Ooi told me I was leading by five. I just wanted to stick to making good decisions, taking confident swings and having fun."
Kathi Zeilinger competes in the Austrian National Championship in 2021. She is an Xbox gamer and credits TeamSpeak for helping her become fluent in English.
As the second-round leader of the shotgun-start tournament, Zeilinger's group finished play on the 18th hole. That allowed all the Titans players to see Zeilinger clinch the win.
"It worked out perfectly for the whole team to be there. Her teammates were genuinely happy to see all her hard work pay off," said Hosch, who is in her ninth year coaching Fullerton.
"Everyone was there. My teammates sprayed me with five full water bottles" said Zeilinger. "It's a moment I will always remember."
The Titans return to action Monday, competing in the two-day Bruin Wave Invitational at Valencia Country Club. "Starting our spring season like we did was a huge confidence booster. To be honest, I can't wait to tee up again," she said.
Zeilinger credits her new personal coach, Thomas Goegele, as well as her Fullerton teammates and coaches for her success this season.
She switched coaches over the summer, traveling to Munich to work with Goegele. Zeilinger continues to consult him remotely. "We worked a lot on swing mechanics. My left knee had been collapsing during my backswing. We've straightened that out, and now I'm hitting more accurately and have added 10-15 meters on my drives."
Six-year-old Kathi Zeilinger isn't fazed by the antics of Julia, her twin sister, while golfing in Austria. There are six courses near her hometown of Neuhofen der Krems.
The high level of competition within the team has forced Zeilinger to step up her game. The top players from the conference championship team all returned, including the last two Big West Golfers of the Year – Kaitlyn Zermeno Smith and Davina Xanh.
"You have to practice to win a starting spot on this team. You can't sit back and take a laissez-faire approach, said Zeilinger. "You really have to earn it."
Zeilinger has improved in all areas, Hosch said. "Her ball-striking has gotten so much better. And she has matured and become a very confident young lady."
Ooi was a Zeilinger's teammate for two years before joining Fullerton's coaching staff. "I've been like an auntie or older sister to Kathi over the years. She was quiet and shy as a freshman but has a lot more confidence now.
"She holds herself to such a high standard. She has been the epitome of hard work. One day it was pouring rain, and she told me, 'This is the perfect time to practice, in the rain.' "
Thomas Kast, Zeilinger's father, said she works diligently on all aspects of her game. "Besides her talent and passion for golf, Kathi is very disciplined. She spends hours every day and has been doing so since she started playing tournaments when she was 13 years old."
The 5-foot-4 Zeilinger hails from Neuhofen der Krems, a historic market town 10 miles southwest of Linz in north-central Austria. She and her twin Julia were 5 years old when their father introduced them to golf. The girls began golfing with neighbors at a children's camp, but Julia lacked Zeilinger's zeal for the game.
"Our parents would take us to a practice facility. Julia would spend 30 minutes hitting a bucket of balls and practicing chips, bunker shots and putts and then ask, 'Can I go home?' I still wasn't done chipping and putting," said Zeilinger, chuckling.
Zeilinger also played soccer and skied in the Alps, but soon her life revolved around golf. Her father found her a personal coach. "Herbert Karl coached me since the start and helped a lot I when I began competing in tournaments," she said. "He was my coach for a long time, and a great friendship was formed."
She won multiple county and state championships in Austria. Zeilinger won her first national title in 2020, capturing the Under-18 Austrian Youth Match Play. She followed that by winning the Under-21 Austrian Youth Stroke Play in 2023 and 2024. She was the Austrian Amateur champion in 2025.
Zeilinger's father ferried her to tournaments across Austria. He said he had many roles: chauffeur, club cleaner, manager, financier, psychologist and caddie.
At the 2022 Austrian International Championship, he had a memorable moment as her caddy. "On the last hole, a tree blocked her approach shot. Kathi wanted to play it safe, but I thought the gap she had to work with was big enough and talked her into taking an aggressive shot," said Kast. "It clipped the tree and ricocheted at a 90-degree angle out of bounds. After she took a double on the hole and just missed out on third place, Kathi said I would have to re-intern again to prove my caddy skills."
A bundled-up Kathi Zeilinger, right, is joined by her mother, Dr. Silvia Zeilinger, her fraternal twin, Julia, and her father, Thomas Kast, at a Christmas market in Bauernkrapfen, Austria.
After graduating from high school at age 17, Zeilinger took a gap year. She spent her time playing golf and taking businesses classes at Linz. She also began reaching out to U.S. universities, searching for a college with a strong business school in a warm-weather area where she could golf year-round.
"When we recruited her in 2021, it was still hard to travel internationally because of the pandemic," said Hosch. "We did a lot of phone calls through Zoom."
"Our first online meeting was awesome," said Zeilinger. "We didn't just talk about golf; we talked about everything. Coach Hosch didn't just want to get to know me as a player but as person. It made my decision to come to Fullerton very easy."
"I thought I would get homesick after I arrived, but I was busy trying to get organized, activating phone service, opening a bank account, going to class and playing golf."
Her father works for an e-commerce business, selling hardware online. Her mother, Dr. Silvia Zeiliger, is a general practitioner focusing on natural healing, gut-health awareness, dieting and nutrition. Both are golfers.
Zeilinger's fraternal twin, Julia, attends the University of Vienna. She is an international business major who also is involved in dancing and acting at a musical academy. She still plays golf but only for recreation
The 22-year-old Zeilinger is an international business major too and will graduate this spring. Her favorite class this semester is Marketing for Entrepreneurs, in which she will be part of a student team that will do field work for local businesses. She would eventually like to work for a U.S.-based company.
She is fluent in German and English and can converse in French. Zeilinger enjoys cooking and baking at her apartment, which she shares with three others. She occasionally creates Austrian pastries and desserts for her teammates.
Before pursuing a business career, Zeilinger is likely to give professional golf a try. "Kathi has always said she wants to be a professional golfer," said her father. "When she decided to go to the U.S., we knew she was really going for it."
