July 3, 2007
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Greg Allen, considered one of the outstanding collegiate golf coaches in the NCAA, has been named Vanderbilt’s head women’s coach by Vice Chancellor David Williams.
Allen has been head coach at the University of Arizona since 2000, twice winning the Pac-10 Conference, finishing as NCAA runner-up in 2002 and coaching Lorena Ochoa – currently the No. 1 ranked player on the LPGA Tour – among nine other All-Americans.
Allen replaces Martha Richards, who resigned in June to take a similar position at the University of Texas.
“We are absolutely delighted to have such an outstanding person and proven coaching talent joining our program,” Williams said in his announcement. “We conducted an intensive national search and everyone has good things to say about Greg Allen. His vast experience running a Top 10 program, his record as one of the nation’s top recruiters and his down to earth personality makes him an ideal fit for us at this time.”
Allen has a lengthy record of achievement at Arizona during his seven years there. In addition to his Pac-10 titles and 10 All-Americans, he coached eight NCAA All-Scholars, 13 Academic All-Pac-10 student-athletes, three NCAA Players of the Year, two National Freshmen of the Year, three Pac-10 Players of the Year, two Curtis Cup selections and 21 All-Pac-10 performers. Two of his players won three Golfstat Cup Award for the nation’s lowest stroke average.
“The more our family learned about Vanderbilt University the more excited we became about the possibilities,” Allen said. “After meeting with Chancellor Gee and David Williams, I feel very confident with Vanderbilt’s commitment to the overall success of its student-athletes on and off the golf course. I’m thrilled at the opportunity to carry on the winning tradition established by Martha Richards. I look forward to continuing to recruit the quality student-athletes that have made the Commodore women’s golf program one of the nation’s best. In addition, I’m anxious to embrace the Nashville golf community that supports Commodore Golf.”
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 in Roswell, Ga.
His Wildcat teams won nine tournament championships and registered 28 individual victories. In addition to Ochoa, Allen has coached LPGA and PGA stars Natalie Gulbis, Erica Blasberg, Laura Myerscough, and David Gossett while he was with the Longhorns.
He is a native of Kentucky and graduated from Murray State in 1993. He and his wife Julie, a swim coach who competed in the 1988 Olympic trials, have two daughters, one son and a baby due in early January.
“It was an extremely hard decision to leave Arizona,” Allen said. “There are a lot of great people there and the relationships we have built will last a lifetime. However, the Nashville area is a great part of the country and moving closer to our families was something very important to us.”
