Daytona Beach, FL—The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP) membership today named UC Riverside Women's Golf Coach Mary Ritchie the 2016 National Coach of the Year.
Ritchie led the Highlanders in a historic season that included two regular season tournament titles, the first Big West Conference Championship in program history, and a trip to the NCAA Regionals at Stanford. She also served as the interim head coach of UC Riverside's Big West Champion Men's Golf Team in the fall of 2015.
"I am very grateful and incredibly honored to be this year's recipient of the LPGA National Coach of the Year award," said Ritchie. "I couldn't be more proud to be a member of the LPGA T&CP, an organization that continues to be on the cutting edge of golf instruction and elite coaching. To be among so many accomplished professionals and be selected means a great deal to me particularly, since I've poured my heart and soul into building our golf program at UC Riverside.
"This award is really a joint accomplishment for our team, and I'm thrilled to share it with each of my remarkable student-athletes."
In 2014, her first year with the Highlanders, Coach Ritchie led the team to three tournament wins and the highest-ever national ranking for the team (76 as rated by Golfstat). The Highlanders improved from sixth to third place in the Big West, which was the program's best finish since 2006-07, and senior, Savannah Vilaubi became the first player to advance to NCAA Regionals in the program's 15 year history.
The UC Riverside Women's Golf Team also received an NCAA Public Recognition Award for its Academic Progress Rate for the 2014-15 academic season.
LPGA press release
In 1981, the LPGA established the LPGA Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to a woman golf professional who is actively engaged in the teaching and/or coaching of golf at the college, university or high school level.
The LPGA Coach of the Year Award is presented annually to a T&CP golf professional who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments related to coaching during the year.
The member must have made significant contributions within the following areas:
- Overall performance in coaching, which may include recruiting, program development, instruction, tournament scheduling and organization, fundraising, academic achievement, and tournament performance.
- Service to and participation within her Section and the LPGA.
- Leadership and dedication in development of the student-athlete.
- Contributions to community and the golf industry.
