Georgia Southern Director of Golf Larry Mays has announced he has named Emily Kuhfeld women’s golf coach.
Kuhfeld comes to Statesboro from Texas Tech, where she spent the last three campaigns as an assistant coach for JoJo Robertson, helping guide Tech to some of its most successful seasons in program history.
“I could not be more excited and honored to join the Georgia Southern family as the first women’s golf coach,” said Kuhfeld. “During the interview process, I was blown away by the university, facilities and beauty of Statesboro. I feel that everything is in place to create something very special here. Since accepting the job, Coach Mays and the staff have been so welcoming and enthusiastic — I can’t wait to start recruiting and building a first-class program.”
The Georgia Southern women’s golf team will begin competition in the 2015-16 season as members of the Sun Belt Conference. The program will have six full scholarships, the full complement allowed by the NCAA, and will share the Bennett-Ramsey Golf Center with the men’s program after renovations have been completed.
Kuhfeld assisted with daily practice instruction, recruiting, and the day-to-day operations of the program at Texas Tech. She helped lead Tech to its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013, and the Lady Raiders posted two team victories last season. Kuhfeld has a background in golf instruction, being an LPGA Class A T&CP member.
“We are excited to have Emily as our first women’s coach,” said Mays. “Her background as a player at Ohio State and her coaching experience both at Texas Tech and USC Beaufort have given her great experiences at many different levels. She will come in and get right to recruiting the best ladies possible to make up our first team in the fall of 2015. We all look forward to getting the program up and running.”
A native of Indianapolis, Kuhfeld earned her degree in history from Ohio State in 2005 after wrapping up her playing career. The captain of the 2004-05 squad, Kuhfeld was a four-time Academic All-Big 10 selection and helped lead the Buckeyes to the Big 10 title in each of her four seasons.
Following graduation, she spent nearly two years as a professional player on the Futures Tour before moving on to caddie for Allison Hanna on the LPGA Tour.
Following her time on tour, she worked two years as a golf instructor with both the Junior Players Golf Academy (JPGA) and at the Oyster Reef Golf Club in Hilton Head, S.C. While with the JPGA, Kuhfeld assisted in the organization’s college placement program mission.
She began her collegiate coaching career as head coach at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where she led the NAIA program to a third-place finish in the Sun Conference and a spot in the national tournament. The Sand Sharks finished 18th at the NAIA National Championships and were ranked among the top-20 teams in the country.
Under Kuhfeld’s direction, Kelli Nakano claimed the Sun Conference individual title and earned All-American honors as well.
After a year at USC-Beaufort, Kuhfeld moved on to Texas Tech in 2011, and helped the Lady Raiders advance to NCAAs for the third-straight season. Texas Tech won two tournament titles that year, marking only the fourth time in program history and the first time since the 1995-96 campaign that Texas Tech won multiple tournaments.