Saint Leo head women’s golf coach Tommy Baker has resigned from his role at the university to accept an assistant coaching position at Colorado State University, a Division I program in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Baker exits Saint Leo after four seasons, having turned the Lions into a top-10 program over the past two seasons.
“All of us at Saint Leo are grateful for Coach Baker’s contributions to the growth of the women’s golf program and to our overall women’s athletics program,” Saint Leo athletic director Francis X. Reidy said, in a release. “He has laid a great foundation for the future growth of Saint Leo women’s golf, and we will now look for a successor to build on Tommy’s work over the last four years. Tommy has been a tremendous asset to our department, and I wish him all the best in his new role at Colorado State.”
The Lions qualified for the NCAA South Super Regional in each of Baker’s four seasons at the helm. His 2015-16 squad earned the program’s first team qualifier into the national championship and finished in a tie fourth place, while Saint Leo produced individual qualifiers in 2014 and 2017.
Baker coached senior Marie Coors, Division II’s top-ranked player throughout much of 2016-2017, to the individual title at the 2017 NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship in Findlay, Ohio – Saint Leo’s first NCAA national championship, team or individual, in women’s athletics.
Coors capped the season by earning 2017 Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Division II Player of the Year honors, as well as being named the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division II Academic All-America of the Year in the At-Large category, and the Division II Honda Athlete of the Year nominee in women’s golf.
Coors was one of three WGCA All-Americans who was coached by Baker over his four seasons at Saint Leo, two of whom he recruited.
Also during Baker’s time as head coach, the Lions’ four-player team stroke average dropped from 309.59 in his first season down to 297.64 in 2016-17, and Saint Leo’s 74.46 adjusted scoring average in 2016-17 was fourth lowest in all of Division II according to GolfStat.
“I have enjoyed my time at Saint Leo University and feel extremely grateful for the knowledge and friendships that I have gained over the past four years. I am forever grateful for the opportunity the university provided me,” said Baker. “I want to personally thank Dr. Arthur Kirk and Dr. William Lennox (former and current Saint Leo presidents), Fran Reidy, and the Saint Leo community for allowing and trusting me to be an influential part of the daily lives of our student-athletes. I wish the university, the athletics department, and the Saint Leo women’s golf program continued success.”
Prior to Saint Leo, Baker served as the head golf coach at Coker College, in Hartsville, South Carolina, and assistant golf coach at University of North Carolina-Pembroke.
