Despite the retirement of longtime women’s golf coach Kim Evans after last season because of health issues, the expectations for the program haven’t changed.
Melissa Luellen was lured away from Arizona State to be Auburn’s new coach, and she set the bar high from day one. Her team followed suit.
“The team has come up with a goal that they want to get back to the national championships,” Luellen said. “I totally believe that this group can do it.”
A key leader on the team is senior Alex Harrell, one of only two seniors on this season’s squad.
Harrell also has confidence in the team’s ability to reach all of its goals.
“Being a senior on the team and seeing this team this year, it’s probably the best one that we’ve had so far, I feel like,” Harrell said. “All eight of us can play, and we’re all competing for those five spots.”
In two tournaments so far this season, Auburn has shown flashes of greatness, but more consistency is needed if the Tigers are to return to the top tier of teams nationally.
Auburn opened the season at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, South Carolina, where it finished ninth out of 20 teams.
The Tigers then traveled straight to Nashville, Tennessee, to play in the Mason Rudolph Championship at Vanderbilt University. Auburn jumped out to a fast start at the event, coming in fifth out of 17 teams after the first day of play. After climbing into a tie for fourth on day two, the Tigers faltered on the third day, falling to an eighth-place finish.
“I thought that our first couple of days were very solid, very competitive, and then the last days we struggled,” Luellen said. “I think we had a little too much focus on outcome and kind of got out of the process … That’s something we’re addressing every day in practice.”
Luellen’s first recruiting class includes three promising players, most notably Mai Dechathipat, a native of Thailand who has played for the team in both tournaments.
“We kind of forget how hard it is [for freshmen],” Luellen said. “I think they’re doing a really good job adjusting and figuring out the schedule. Mai Dechathipat is just an incredibly talented player and she’s just – we’re just working on kind of getting her confidence back up again.”
Since being hired in June, Luellen has spent her time getting to know Auburn, a place she has “fallen in love with.”
She has also made an immediate impact on her golfers, both on and off the course.
“She’s a really wonderful person,” Harrell said. “She definitely cares about us. I got that first impression when I met her. As a coach, she knows her stuff … We’ve gotten a lot better already.”
Though Evans left big shoes to fill, Luellen is determined to not only maintain the program she inherited, but improve it.
“We’re going to win a national championship,” Luellen said. “I think before I came, before Coach Evans got sick, Auburn was always a top-10 program. There’s everything in place to do that … That’s where I’m going. I hope everyone else is coming with me.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
