‘I Know What it Takes’: New Mizzou Women’s Golf Coach Ready to Work
Caroline Westrup is the new coach for women’s golf at Missouri, and she’s made it clear that she “knows what it takes” to turn the Tigers into a power.
“I know what it takes to make it to the highest level,” Westrup told USA Today. “I’m very, very competitive. I just want to change the culture a little bit for the women’s program.”
Getting the Tigers there will be another matter.
The Tigers didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament this year after finishing 14th out of 14 teams at the SEC Tournament.
Former coach Stephanie Priesmeyer led the program for more than 20 years, but she moved into an administrative role after the season ended. The Tigers reached NCAA regionals nine times and the NCAA Championships once, coming in 2005 when the Tigers finished 16th.
Westrup was an assistant coach at Georgia last season, which reached the NCAA Tournament and lost to Stanford in the match play quarterfinals.
The Ahus, Sweden native, helped Sweden to three European team championships, which led her to Florida State, where she became the program’s only four-time All-American and the only four-time All-ACC honoree.
She spent nine years as a professional and spent three years as a coach at IMG Academy at Bradenton, Fla., before joining Georgia.
Westrup said she wants the program to take a jump in national prominence in the next five years.
“I hope that we are up there and really competitive within the SEC, we’re playing in nationals every year and are up there in contention to be able to win a national championship,” Westrup said.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.