July 17, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina head women’s golf coach Kalen Harris announced the addition of Scott Barnicle to her staff as the program’s volunteer coach on Wednesday.

Barnicle will assist the Gamecocks on a part-time basis, focusing primarily on sports psychology. He will look to enhance the team’s mental performance, which includes concentration, focus, adversity and routine.

“I’m very excited to have Scott involved with our program,” Harris said. “Scott’s mental performance education, training and experience working with athletes and the U.S. military are very impressive. He will be a valuable asset to our coaching staff and players.”

Barnicle brings a wealth of sport psychology experience to the program. He currently works with the U.S. Army at Fort Jackson as a Master Resilience Trainer and Performance Expert, implementing applied sports psychology skills.

“I am very excited to come on board with the South Carolina women’s golf program,” Barnicle said. “I am thankful to (director of golf) Puggy (Blackmon) and Kalen for giving me the opportunity to work with the athletes to improve their sport psychology skills within the game of golf, and I look forward to being a part of a strong team and program moving forward.”

From 2010-2012, Barnicle served as the assistant women’s golf coach at the University of Idaho under head coach Lisa Johnson. During his stent with Idaho, he helped manage the day-to-day activities of the program and utilized sport psychology techniques to enhance competitive performance.

Barnicle, who is just three weeks away from finishing his doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology, was able to work with student-athletes from nearly every athletic program in an applied sport psychology role while working toward his doctorate at Idaho.

Barnicle joins a Gamecock program that has risen to national prominence under the direction of Harris and Blackmon. The Gamecocks have won two NCAA East Regional titles in the last four years and have made five NCAA Championship appearances, finishing in the top-20 four straight years.