Anderson Named to WGCA National Coach of the Year Watch List

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Head coach Kalen Anderson was one of 24 coaches named to the watch list for the 2024-25 Division I Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year the organization recently announced. The award recipient will be announced after the upcoming NCAA Championship, which starts Friday at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Recognized as the highest annual coaching honor in women’s collegiate golf, the Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride is awarded annually to the top coach in Division I, II III and NAIA women’s golf.

Anderson, who has turned South Carolina into a national powerhouse and perennial top-10 program, has led the team to one of the best seasons in school history this year. The Gamecocks have won four tournaments, including the program’s second SEC Championship (first since 2002) and the NCAA Charlottesville Regional, the sixth regional title and first since 2017. All six NCAA Regional wins have come under Anderson. The team has been ranked in the top-five all season playing one of the hardest schedules in the country.

The Gamecocks, who are currently ranked No. 3 heading into NCAA finals, have put together an impressive 110-12-3 record (42-3-1 vs. the SEC) in the team’s 10 tournaments this season.

All five players in the lineup earned All-SEC honors for the first time in program history led by a trio of First Team All-SEC selections in senior All-Americans Hannah Darling, Louise Rydqvist and standout freshman Eila Galitsky, who was also the SEC Co-Freshman of the Year. Darling became the first player in program history to be named First Team All-SEC four times.

The team will make its fifth-straight NCAA Championship appearance this week and 14^th NCAA Championship appearance in Anderson’s 18 seasons as head coach. She has led the program to its three best finishes at the NCAA Championship (5th – 2012, T-5th – 2016 and T-5th 2023), and this year’s squad is poised to make a run for the program’s first National Championship on the heels of back-to-back wins to start the 2025 postseason.

2024-25 Division I Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride Watch List

• Kalen Anderson, University of South Carolina
• Amy Bond, Florida State University
• Mimi Burke, Georgia Southern University
• Stew Burke, Kansas State University
• Amy Bush-Herzer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Diana Cantu, University of Tennessee
• Missy Farr-Kaye, Arizona State University
• Emily Fletcher, Northwestern University
• Emily Glaser, University of Florida
• Kory Henkes, University of Mississippi
• Kathryn Hosch, California State University, Fullerton
• Laura Ianello, University of Texas
• Lindsay Kuhle, University of Kansas
• Angie Larkin, Texas Christian University
• Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest University
• Aimee Neff, University of North Carolina
• Derek Radley, University of Oregon
• Garrett Runion, Louisiana State University
• Ria Scott, University of Virginia
• Justin Silverstein, University of Southern California
• Stacy Slobodnik Stoll, Michigan State University
• Lisa Strom, The Ohio State University
• Shauna Taylor, University of Arkansas
• Anne Walker, Stanford University

About the Women’s Golf Coaches Association

The Women’s Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women’s collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 750 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.

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