Florida Gators women's golf
Encyclopedia
The Florida Gators women's golf team represents the University of Florida
in the sport of golf
. The Lady Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference
(SEC). They play their home matches on the Mark Bostick Golf Course on the university's Gainesville, Florida
campus, and are currently led by head coach Jan Dowling
. In the thirty-nine-year history of the Gators women's golf program, the Lady Gators have won eight SEC championships and two NCAA national tournament championships.
in 1969. Ryan's Lady Gators were elevated to varsity status in 1972 with the expansion of the Gators women's sports program under former University of Florida athletic director Ray Graves
and associate athletic director Ruth Alexander. The University of Florida embraced the challenge of creating a nationally recognized women's sports program, including women's golf, in order to comply with Title IX
's federally mandated equal opportunities for women in college sports.
As one of the first Florida Gators women's sports teams, the Lady Gators golfers enjoyed almost immediate success in Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
(AIAW) competition. In the Lady Gators' first year as a varsity sports team, Ryan's Gators finished seventh at the AIAW national championship tournament, beginning a streak of nineteen consecutive top-ten finishes in the AIAW and NCAA national championship tournaments. Ryan's golfers finished second in the AIAW national championship tournament in 1978 and 1978.
The 1981–1982 school year was the transition year for sponsorship of national championship tournaments for women's college sports in the United States. During 1981–1982, both the AIAW and the NCAA sponsored championships; since 1982, only the NCAA has sponsored championships in women's college sports. The Lady Gators finished third in the last AIAW championship tournament, and fourth in the first NCAA championship tournament in 1982.
Under Ryan, the Lady Gators golf program peaked in the mid-1980s, when the women's golf team won two back-to-back NCAA tournament championships
in 1985 and 1986. Led by senior Deb Richard
in 1985, a Gators team that included Karen Davies
, Lisa Stanley, Page Dunlap
and Tammy Towles dominated the NCAA tournament field to win the program's first national championship by fifteen shots, and Richard missed winning the NCAA individual championship by a single shot.
Leading the team of Karen Davies, Lisa Nedoba, Cheryl Morley and Lisa Stanley to its second NCAA national tournament championship eight shots ahead of the runner-up team, junior Page Dunlap won the NCAA individual championship by a single stroke in 1986. For the first time in the history of college women's golf, all five starting members of the 1986 team received All-American honors.
The Southeastern Conference sanctioned women's golf as a conference sport in 1980, and the Lady Gators enjoyed immediate success against their SEC competition, winning eight SEC team championships (1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2008). Six individual members of the Gators women's golf team have also won eight SEC individual titles, including Lynn Connelly (1981), Deb Richard (1982, 1983, 1984), Karen Davies (1986), Cheryl Morley (1988), Dina Taylor (1995) and Aimee Cho (2003).
In 2011, coach Jan Dowling's Lady Gators placed tenth at the NCAA national championship tournament.
(1976, 1979), Lori Garbacz
(1978), Denise Hermida (1979), Laurie Rinker
(1980, 1982), Deb Richard (1984, 1985), Laurie Burns (1984), Karen Davies (1986, 1987, 1988), Page Dunlap (1986), Cheryl Morley (1988, 1989), Riko Higashio
(1998), and Sandra Gal
(2007).
(1995, 1996), Riko Higashio (1996, 1997, 1998), Sara Beautell (1997), Aimee
Cho (2003, 2004), and Sandra Gal (2007).
(NGCA) Players Hall of Fame recognizes the greatest women's college golfers; five Lady Gators have been inducted, including Donna Horton White
(1987), Suzanne Jackson (1993), Cheryl Morley (2000), Deb Richard (2002) and Page Dunlap (2003).
, Lori Garbacz
, Lisa Hackney Hall
, Donna Horton White
, Deb Richard
and Laurie Rinker
.
is the head coach of the Gators women's golf team; she was hired as the new coach on June 15, 2009, Dowling was previously the assistant women's golf coach at Duke University
for one year (2009) and Kent State University
for three years (2006–2008). She is a 2002 graduate of Kent State, where she was a member of the women's team, and played professional golf from 2002 to 2006. The 2011–2012 season will be her third as the Lady Gators head coach.
as part of a $4 million renovation project in 2001. The renovated course is a 6,701-yard par 70, and the facilities include the Guy Bostick club house and dedicated practice areas for the Gators women's golf team.
The course hosts the annual Lady Gator Invitational tournament, and has also served as the site for the NCAA Regional women's tournament.
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in the sport of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. The Lady Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC). They play their home matches on the Mark Bostick Golf Course on the university's Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
campus, and are currently led by head coach Jan Dowling
Jan Dowling
Jan Dowling is a Canadian-born American college golf coach and former amateur golfer. Dowling is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's golf team of the University of Florida.- Early life and education :...
. In the thirty-nine-year history of the Gators women's golf program, the Lady Gators have won eight SEC championships and two NCAA national tournament championships.
Team history
The Florida Gators women's golf program originated as an intercollegiate club team under coach Mimi RyanMimi Ryan
Mimi Ryan is a former American college golf coach. Ryan was the founder and long-time head coach of the Florida Gators women's golf program at the University of Florida...
in 1969. Ryan's Lady Gators were elevated to varsity status in 1972 with the expansion of the Gators women's sports program under former University of Florida athletic director Ray Graves
Ray Graves
Samuel Ray Graves is a former American college and professional football player and former college football coach. He is a native of Tennessee and an alumnus of the University of Tennessee, where he played college football...
and associate athletic director Ruth Alexander. The University of Florida embraced the challenge of creating a nationally recognized women's sports program, including women's golf, in order to comply with Title IX
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...
's federally mandated equal opportunities for women in college sports.
As one of the first Florida Gators women's sports teams, the Lady Gators golfers enjoyed almost immediate success in Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships. It evolved out of the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women . The association was one of the biggest...
(AIAW) competition. In the Lady Gators' first year as a varsity sports team, Ryan's Gators finished seventh at the AIAW national championship tournament, beginning a streak of nineteen consecutive top-ten finishes in the AIAW and NCAA national championship tournaments. Ryan's golfers finished second in the AIAW national championship tournament in 1978 and 1978.
The 1981–1982 school year was the transition year for sponsorship of national championship tournaments for women's college sports in the United States. During 1981–1982, both the AIAW and the NCAA sponsored championships; since 1982, only the NCAA has sponsored championships in women's college sports. The Lady Gators finished third in the last AIAW championship tournament, and fourth in the first NCAA championship tournament in 1982.
Under Ryan, the Lady Gators golf program peaked in the mid-1980s, when the women's golf team won two back-to-back NCAA tournament championships
NCAA Women's Golf Championship
NCAA Champions for women's golf:-Division I:-Division II-III combined:-Division II:-Division III:-Team:The following schools have won more than one team championship:*15: Methodist*7: Arizona State*5: Duke, Rollins*4: Florida Southern...
in 1985 and 1986. Led by senior Deb Richard
Deb Richard
Deb Richard is a former American professional golfer who was a member of the LPGA Tour for ten years during the 1990s and 2000s.- Amateur career :Richard was born in Abbeville, Louisiana in 1963, and raised in Manhattan, Kansas...
in 1985, a Gators team that included Karen Davies
Karen Davies
Karen Davies is a professional golfer from Wales who formerly played on the LPGA Tour.- Amateur career :Davies was born in Wrexham, Wales...
, Lisa Stanley, Page Dunlap
Page Dunlap
E. Page Dunlap-Halpin is a former American professional golfer who was a member of the LPGA Tour for six years during the 1990s. Dunlap is best known for winning the individual NCAA Division I Championship in 1986.- Early years :...
and Tammy Towles dominated the NCAA tournament field to win the program's first national championship by fifteen shots, and Richard missed winning the NCAA individual championship by a single shot.
Leading the team of Karen Davies, Lisa Nedoba, Cheryl Morley and Lisa Stanley to its second NCAA national tournament championship eight shots ahead of the runner-up team, junior Page Dunlap won the NCAA individual championship by a single stroke in 1986. For the first time in the history of college women's golf, all five starting members of the 1986 team received All-American honors.
The Southeastern Conference sanctioned women's golf as a conference sport in 1980, and the Lady Gators enjoyed immediate success against their SEC competition, winning eight SEC team championships (1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2008). Six individual members of the Gators women's golf team have also won eight SEC individual titles, including Lynn Connelly (1981), Deb Richard (1982, 1983, 1984), Karen Davies (1986), Cheryl Morley (1988), Dina Taylor (1995) and Aimee Cho (2003).
In 2011, coach Jan Dowling's Lady Gators placed tenth at the NCAA national championship tournament.
All-American
Eleven Lady Gators golfers have earned seventeen first-team All-American honors, including Beverley DavisBeverley Davis
Beverley S. Davis is a former American professional golfer who is currently an instructor with LPGA International.- Amateur career :...
(1976, 1979), Lori Garbacz
Lori Garbacz
Lori Garbacz is a former American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour for sixteen years.- College career :...
(1978), Denise Hermida (1979), Laurie Rinker
Laurie Rinker
Laurie Anne Rinker is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.- Amateur career :...
(1980, 1982), Deb Richard (1984, 1985), Laurie Burns (1984), Karen Davies (1986, 1987, 1988), Page Dunlap (1986), Cheryl Morley (1988, 1989), Riko Higashio
Riko Higashio
- Amateur career :Higashio was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As a teenager, she won the 1993 Japan Amateur Championship and the 1994 Japan Junior Championship.Higashio first attended Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan...
(1998), and Sandra Gal
Sandra Gal
Sandra Gal is a German professional golfer who currently plays on the United States–based LPGA Tour.-Childhood, college and amateur career:...
(2007).
All-Southeastern Conference
Fifteen Florida women's golf team members have received twenty-eight first-team All-SEC honors, including Laurie Rinker (1982), Laurie Burns (1984), Karen Davies (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987), Page Dunlap (1986), Cheryl Morley (1987, 1988, 1989), Lisa Nedoba (1987), Lisa Hackney (1990), Laura Brown (1991), Dina Taylor (1993, 1994, 1995), Sarah Jones (1994), Kimberly Little (1994, 1995), Jeanne-Marie BusuttilJeanne-Marie Busuttil
Jeanne-Marie Busuttil is a former professional golfer from France who was a member of the LPGA Tour in the early 2000s.- Amateur career :...
(1995, 1996), Riko Higashio (1996, 1997, 1998), Sara Beautell (1997), Aimee
Cho (2003, 2004), and Sandra Gal (2007).
Players Hall of Fame
The National Golf Coaches AssociationNational Golf Coaches Association
The National Golf Coaches Association is an organization formed in 1983 to promote women's intercollegiate golf. The vision of NGCA since its inception has been "to encourage the playing of intercollegiate golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with...
(NGCA) Players Hall of Fame recognizes the greatest women's college golfers; five Lady Gators have been inducted, including Donna Horton White
Donna White
Donna Horton White , née Donna Horton, is a former American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour for fifteen years in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.- Amateur career :...
(1987), Suzanne Jackson (1993), Cheryl Morley (2000), Deb Richard (2002) and Page Dunlap (2003).
LPGA Tour professionals
Nineteen University of Florida alumnae have qualified as members of the LPGA Tour, including former Lady Gators Sandra GalSandra Gal
Sandra Gal is a German professional golfer who currently plays on the United States–based LPGA Tour.-Childhood, college and amateur career:...
, Lori Garbacz
Lori Garbacz
Lori Garbacz is a former American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour for sixteen years.- College career :...
, Lisa Hackney Hall
Lisa Hall
Lisa Ann Hall , née Lisa Ann Hackney, is an English professional golfer who was previously a member of the LPGA Tour and currently plays on the Ladies European Tour.- College career :...
, Donna Horton White
Donna White
Donna Horton White , née Donna Horton, is a former American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour for fifteen years in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.- Amateur career :...
, Deb Richard
Deb Richard
Deb Richard is a former American professional golfer who was a member of the LPGA Tour for ten years during the 1990s and 2000s.- Amateur career :Richard was born in Abbeville, Louisiana in 1963, and raised in Manhattan, Kansas...
and Laurie Rinker
Laurie Rinker
Laurie Anne Rinker is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.- Amateur career :...
.
Coaching staff
Jan DowlingJan Dowling
Jan Dowling is a Canadian-born American college golf coach and former amateur golfer. Dowling is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's golf team of the University of Florida.- Early life and education :...
is the head coach of the Gators women's golf team; she was hired as the new coach on June 15, 2009, Dowling was previously the assistant women's golf coach at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
for one year (2009) and Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
for three years (2006–2008). She is a 2002 graduate of Kent State, where she was a member of the women's team, and played professional golf from 2002 to 2006. The 2011–2012 season will be her third as the Lady Gators head coach.
Mark Bostick Golf Course
The Gators women's golf team hosts its home matches at the Mark Bostick Golf Course, located on 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) of the university's campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university course was originally designed by noted Scottish golfer and golf course architect Donald Ross in 1921. It was partially redesigned and rebuilt by noted golf architect Bobby WeedBobby Weed
Robert C. Weed, Jr., ASGCA is a golf course designer, builder, and protégé of Pete Dye. Weed's work includes Tournament Players Club courses, the Slammer and Squire at World Golf Village, and the redesign of the Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida...
as part of a $4 million renovation project in 2001. The renovated course is a 6,701-yard par 70, and the facilities include the Guy Bostick club house and dedicated practice areas for the Gators women's golf team.
The course hosts the annual Lady Gator Invitational tournament, and has also served as the site for the NCAA Regional women's tournament.
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- Florida Gators men's golf
- History of the University of FloridaHistory of the University of FloridaThe history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida, colloquially known as "Florida" or "UF," originated as several distinct institutions that were merged to create a single state-supported university by the...
- List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
- University Athletic AssociationUniversity of Florida Athletic AssociationThe University Athletic Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...
External links
- GatorSports.com – Florida Gators sports news from The Gainesville Sun.
- GatorZone.com – Official webpage of the Florida Gators women's golf team.