AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen was one of 20 coaches named to the watch list for the 2020-21 Division I Jackie Steinmann WGCA National Coach of the Year Presented by Golf Pride, the organization announced Tuesday.
The award, given annually to the top coach in Division I women's golf, will be announced following medal play at the NCAA Championship. The recipient is selected by a prestigious collection of women's collegiate coaches who follow criteria that has been established to identify the top head coach for the past year.
Under Luellen's leadership, the Auburn women's golf team will be making its third straight appearance at the NCAA Championship and 19th all-time after finishing tied for fourth at the NCAA Louisville Regional earlier this month.
In April, Auburn won the SEC championship for the 10th time in program history. The Tigers finished third in the stroke play portion before knocking off Vanderbilt, Alabama and Mississippi State to clinch the title. It was the fifth conference championship for Luellen as a head coach and her first at Auburn. She won two at Arizona State and two at Tulsa.
During the regular season, Auburn placed top five in four of its seven tournaments and earned a first-place finish at the Liz Murphey Fall Collegiate Classic. Four Tigers are currently ranked in the top 100 individually, per Golfstat.
Luellen was named WGCA National Coach of the Year in 2009 while at Arizona State. Former Auburn head coach Kim Evans won the award in 2002.
The Tigers will begin the NCAA Championship on Friday with the first round of stroke play.
