A member of the WGCA Coaches Hall of Fame, the 2019 SEC Coach of the Year and one of college golf’s most respected mentors, Greg Allen was appointed Vanderbilt women’s golf head coach on July 3, 2007.
He has the second-longest tenure among the university’s current head coaches and has led the Commodores to 16 postseason and 10 NCAA Championships appearances.
Allen’s teams have made postseason golf an annual rite of spring at Vanderbilt. His Dores earned all but three of the program’s 13 all-time appearances in the NCAA Championships, including separate streaks of five (2010–14) and four (2022–25) consecutive appearances and an average finish of 16th. Vanderbilt has also won three NCAA regional titles during Allen’s time, most recently by defending its home course at Vanderbilt Legends Clubs in 2022. And in 2014, he led Vanderbilt to just its second SEC women’s golf championship.
In all, Allen has guided the Commodores to 23 tournament titles, including 11 seasons with at least one victory and spanning venues from Vanderbilt Legends Club to Pebble Beach.
Vanderbilt’s record of collective excellence is built on a foundation of individual growth. Dores have earned WGCA All-America honors on nine occasions and Golfweek All-America honors 15 times since Allen arrived.
Under Allen, Marina Alex was honored as the 2010 and 2012 SEC Player of the Year and a WGCA first-team All-American in each season, the first time a Commodore earned either distinction on multiple occasions. Allen also coached Lauren Stratton to WGCA first-team All-America honors in 2010, the only time two Dores were so honored in the same season.
Most recently, Ava Merrill earned WGCA and Golfweek honorable mention All-America recognition after reaching the final round of stroke play at the 2025 NCAA Championships. She tied for 14th individually, the best finish for a Dore since Alex also finished 14th in 2012.
Allen has coached 12 individual medalists at Vanderbilt, highlighted by NCAA Regional medalists Jennifer Hahn (2014) and Auston Kim (2019) and SEC Championships medalists Alex (2010) and Simin Feng (2014).
Allen’s Commodores have also excelled in the nation’s most competitive conference, amassing 22 All-SEC honors, including nine first-team selections. Additionally, Feng (2014) and Lynn Lim (2023) were honored as SEC Freshman of the Year, among 14 Commodores who have received SEC All-Freshman recognition.
Success off the course is no less a staple of Allen’s tenure at Vanderbilt. He mentored 2017 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Kate Sborov, while Celina Sattelkau received the 2024 LPGA Dinah Shore Trophy Award for across-the-board excellence in the classroom, community and in competition. Additionally, over 30 Dores have been recognized as WGCA Scholar All-Americans and more than 80 have been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Allen came to Vanderbilt after a seven-year tenure as the head coach at Arizona, where he won two Pac-10 championships, finished as NCAA runner-up in 2002 and coached Lorena Ochoa — the No. 1 player on the LPGA Tour before her retirement in 2010 — among nine other All-Americans. Ochoa has since been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Allen arrived at Arizona after serving as assistant men’s golf coach at Texas from 1998–2000. Prior to that he was director of tournament operations for the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) in Roswell, Georgia, where he was responsible for planning and executing 47 national junior golf tournaments and other AJGA events.
A native of Beechmont, Kentucky, Allen graduated from Murray State in 1993 with a degree in journalism. As a student, he worked in the sports information office, where he was a liaison for numerous sports including golf.
Allen and the former Sarah Moore were married in August 2019. They are the parents of six children: Maggie, Mollie, Mason, Kylie, Mabry and Blake.
The Allen File
- 40 Individual victories under his tutelage
- 15 All-Americans
- 3 National Players of the Year
- 22 NCAA Regional Appearances as a head coach, including 15 at Vanderbilt
- 9 Consecutive NCAA Regionals as Vanderbilt Coach (2008-16)
- 15 NCAA Championships appearances
- 6 Conference Players of the Year
- 3 Golfstat Cup Awards
- 37 Academic All-Americans
- 27 All-SEC selections
- 10 All Pac-10 selections
- 33 team wins
- Coached several LPGA players including Lorena Ochoa, Natalie Gulbis, Erica Blasberg, Laura Myerscough, Alison Walshe, Marina Alex, Jacqui Concolino, Simin Feng, Jennifer Hahn and Auston Kim
- Coached LET players Cassandra Kirkland, Adriana Zwanck, Liebelei Lawrence, Megan Grehan, Ginnie Ding and Celina Sattelkau