Aug 17, 2025 8 min read

By John Sacco

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

Of all the things Rachel Rohanna is, undeterred is first off the tee.

As a professional golfer, champion, loving mother, devoted wife and friend, Rohanna is a medalist.

Her reputation and determination are golden.

She has not faced a problem, an obstacle or a challenge she backs down from. In Rohanna’s mind, there is nothing she cannot overcome. Don’t even think of talking her down.

It’s not going to happen with this professional golfer.

“Starting out, I would say as a child Rachel was quiet but she was aggressive,” said her mother, Debbie Rohanna. “We knew if we gave her a challenge, she was going to meet it. No matter what it was. We always tried to encourage her.

“There was always some kind of challenge out there for her. We put it out there because we knew she was going to go for that. I know she was always caring about everybody else and that continues today. She didn’t talk about it. I think as a kid that’s how she was and she just kept pursuing a dream, which was fine with us.”

Rachel Rohanna, 34, juggles professional golf, a marriage, two little girls, a family business and a sincere effort to give back.

Rohanna and her husband, Ethan, reside in Marianna with their daughters, 6-year-old Gemelia and baby Greenlee. They own ERV Cattle Co. and Virgili Custom Meats, a butcher shop.

“I have an opportunity going forward,” Rachel Rohanna said. “Our oldest plays every sport you can imagine – wrestling, golf, softball, basketball and three dance classes — my husband and I are just running around like crazy. It’s hard whenever I travel and I’m usually packing for myself and I pack for the baby and I pack for the oldest one, not necessarily that they’re always coming with me but if I’m gone, you know Ethan leaves at 4 in the morning.

“His mom will take them and I don’t want him rushing around at 3:30 a.m. getting stuff together. I have all their stuff laid out.

“You know, it’s crazy because I’m getting older. I have two kids now. I went through an injury (last year) and I’ve been through two pregnancies. I must work 10 times as hard to keep up with these young kids (golfers).”

Bursting on the scene

Rohanna starred at Waynesburg Central High School from 2005 to 2009. During the regular season, she competed as either the number-one or number-two golfer on the Raiders’ boys’ team. Once the post-season rolled around, the standout won WPIAL and PIAA girls titles in 2005 and 2007. 

Outside of the high school competition, Rohanna Virgili placed 13th at the PGA Junior Championships during her senior year of high school. She also competed in and made the cut in the 2012 West Penn Open. At the time, she was the first-and-only woman to accomplish the feat.

She was also a standout member of the WCHS softball program, including the 2006 team that qualified for the PIAA state tournament.

“Rachel always wanted to do well in whatever she attempted,” said her grandmother Roseann Schwartz. “She always gave it more effort than anybody, including when she was in college. I thought well she’s going to be there four years and then she’ll get started on this golf career or whatever.

“It was her nature to excel and to do well no matter what it was.”

While competing as a collegian for the Buckeyes, Rohanna Virgili earned the 2009-10 and 2011-12 Frank Fuhrer, III, Collegiate Player of the Year Awards. She was also a two-time first-team All-Big 10 honoree, won a pair of collegiate tournaments and qualified for the NCAA Division I National Championships.

“We were somewhere in the house,” explained Tom Rohanna, Rachel’s dad. “She was 6-years-old. She picked up a baton and swung it like a golf club and I’m like ‘oh my.’ I went and told my wife. She swings that like a golf club. It was amazing. I knew right away that…it was just pitch perfect. It was magical but I had no idea that she even knew anything about golf. As she developed, you saw that skill, and she was surrounded by golf.”

But softball mattered.

“I coached her in softball all the way up to high school and she was a remarkable player and a remarkable teammate,” her dad said. “Playing on a team helped her out considerably with her golf and with her work ethic.”

After graduating from Ohio State University in 2012, Rohanna Virgili appeared in more than 40 LPGA events, including three U.S. Opens, and made the cut in 10 of them, over an eight-year professional career. That career has also included an appearance in another LPGA major, the KPMG Championship. 

“Rachel is just a fantastic young lady and just a great athlete and she obviously made our program much better when she came to play,” said Teresse Hession, who coached Rohanna at Ohio State. “She was always one of our top performers and I could always count on her to be in the mix.”

“I know she did learn a lot of things that she carried forward with her and, hopefully, would help her get to the highest level. I know she’s still in pursuit of that dream.”

Rachel Rohanna played in 88 Symetra Tour events and made 66 cuts. In 2017, the Waynesburg native took home the 2017 Symetra Tour Championship.

She earned medalist honors at the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships. At that same event, she set a then-stroke play record by carding a seven-under 65 at Charlotte Country Club.

Coach, Teacher, Mentor

Rachel Rohanna was hired as Waynesburg University’s head women’s golf coach during the summer of 2021. She has a playing resume that few, if any, coaches in the NCAA Division III ranks can rival.

While she’s valuable in that position, she has endeared herself to the community, prospective young players and admiring young girls.

Rohanna and a couple other moms created a golf opportunity for children in the Greene County area.

Their passion project – “Tee to Greene” — is a nonprofit “founded to empower kids through golf.”

The lack of opportunity and access kids in their community had in the sport moved them to action.

In just a few months, Tee to Greene as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit was born and it focuses on “teaching youth sportsmanship, mental resilience, and emotional wellbeing through golf.”

“We’re thrilled to create opportunities for kids to grow, learn, and thrive on and off the course,” Rohanna said.

Sponsors are welcome to help the ladies offer free or low-cost clinics, provide supplies, and put golf clubs in the hands of as many children as possible.

Tee to Greene is a junior golf foundation.

“We’re looking to handle costs, hopefully equipment cost, and some other things we have in mind,” Rohanna said. “Our minds might be going a little bit quicker than what we can do now. We’re excited and committed.

“We’re just trying to bring golf opportunities. It’s cool. We had 96 kids signed up and that filled all four sessions and we 30 had kids on the wait list. In the winter, I was holding some clinics and had about 50 different kids go through about seven of those clinics. We know there’s a need for these kids getting some access to golf.”

Nichole Morecraft of Greene County sent two daughters to this summer’s Tee to Green.

“It’s a phenomenal service,” she said. “It’s all community based. My kids look forward to it and it is something for these little ones to get interested in a sport. You just don’t hear about this kind of opportunity often and they don’t get exposed to golf until they’re in high school. They’re getting early exposure, which is fantastic. My girls asked for golf gloves. We got them golf clubs because of this. They love the sport.”

Her daughters also spent a great deal of time picking out proper golf attire.

“I learned how to putt,” said rising third-grader Ophelia. “The information was the most important part – lining up right.”

For Isabel, a rising fourth-grader, it’s about getting help.

“I like how Rachel teaches,” she said. “She helps all of us. I like rotating to different stations and the helpers. I also liked putting and driving. It’s fun.”

Rohanna’s guidance helped Isabel win the putting contest.

In addition to golf, the kids have the option of food trucks and they are gifted swag, tees, balls and other goodies.

“Rachel’s giving back and providing hope and excitement while teaching golf.”

Said Rohanna: “My grandfather (Dick Schwartz, who played on the PGA Tour and senior circuit) was my greatest golf influencer. He literally taught me everything about the game and I owe my entire career to him. I learned from my grandmother (Roseanne Schwartz, was a golf course owner and head coach at Youngstown State). She was a teaching pro as well and she helped me out. She’s always been there to give me a lot of confidence, saying ‘you’re good enough and you can hang in there and all that good stuff.’

“I want to provide that support to these young kids.”