Virginia Golfer January / February 2015 | Page 19

VSGA WOMEN’S GOLFER OF THE YEAR Lauren Coughlin HOMETOWN: Charlottesville, Va. HOME CLUB: Birdwood Golf Course, Charlottesville, Va. COLLEGE: Senior at the University of Virginia QUICK TIP One of the strengths of Coughlin’s game is putting. When she’s not making putts, she’s always around the hole. Coughlin has adopted the AimPoint green reading method to determine the line of putts where golfers hold up a certain number of fingers to determine break. Some of the world’s top players, including Adam Scott and Stacy Lewis, have adopted the approach. “Speed is important, for sure, but if you don’t have the right line, the ball is still not going to go in,” Coughlin says. “You need to trust your feel and I use AimPoint as a base. Your eyes can trick you on occasion. Sometimes putts may look like they’re uphill, but you have to trust your feel to determine speed and line. You need a combination of both pace and direction to make putts.” UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA IN HER OWN WORDS Coughlin credits goal-setting and a desire to get stronger physically for her continued improvement. “This whole year, especially during the summer, I was working toward being the VSGA player of the year,” Coughlin says. “The (Women’s) Stroke Play was a nice win. I sort of went for it over the last couple of holes. I was behind in the late moments and it was stressful, but it felt good to come back.” OFF THE COURSE Coughlin is completing her coursework to earn a degree in psychology from U.Va. in the spring. She plans to attend graduate school and pursue a master’s degree in higher education with a concentration in sports administration. Coughlin says she hopes to coach or work in a college athletic department once all her degree requirements are completed. w w w. v s g a . o r g 15_VSGA_GOY.JanFeb15.indd 17 Lauren Coughlin continues to develop all areas of her game. 2014 ACCOMPLISHMENTS ➤ Paced all points’ leaders in the season-ending VSGA women’s player rankings in the regular division. ➤ Won the VSGA Virginias Women’s Stroke Play Championship. With the victory, Coughlin, the VSGA Women’s Amateur champion in 2012 and 2013, became the third player since 1991 to own the Women’s Amateur and Women’s Stroke Play titles in the same rotation. ➤ Earned medalist honors at the VSGA Women’s Amateur. She finished as the runnerup to central Virginia’s Lyberty Anderson of Chesterfield (now her U.Va. teammate), ending a remarkable 13-match unbeaten streak at the championship. ➤ Posted a top-10 finish (tied for ninth) at the Harder Hall Invitational, a prestigious amateur event conducted annually each January at Harder Hall Country Club in Sebring, Fla. ➤ She was the Cavaliers’ stroke average leader, the team’s top finisher at the NCAA East Regional and helped the program reach the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship. J ANUARY/F EBRUARY 2015 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 17 1/21/15 2:03 PM