Women's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- coopersl@missouri.edu
COACHING HONORS
- 2005 - NCAA Central Region Coach of the Year
- 2004 - Big 12 Coach of the Year
- 2020 - ROARS Coach's Academic Enhancement Award
Truly one of the most dynamic coaches in all of women's college golf, Mizzou Women's Golf Head Coach Stephanie Priesmeyer has led Mizzou to unprecedented heights in her 20 years at the helm of the Tiger program. She has brought a level of energy and enthusiasm to the table that is infectious and inspiring.
Since taking over at her alma mater prior to the 2001-02 season, Priesmeyer has led Mizzou to NCAA Regional competition eight times overall, including two of the last five years (2016, 2018). In just her fourth season, the Tigers used a record-third-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional in 2005 to make the jump to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
Under her leadership, the Tigers have taken home 17 tournament titles and smashed school records left and right, including lowest 54-hole total in MU history (825 at the 2015 Johnie Imes Invitational), and lowest 18-hole team total (269 at the 2015 Johnie Imes). Every listing in the program's top-25 best for both 18-hole and 54-hole team scores have all taken place on Priesmeyer's watch. In addition, 41 of the best 43 single round scores in school history have come since she took over at MU.
The Tigers have also excelled in the classroom over the course of Priesmeyer's leadership. Her commitment to academics and the success for her student-athletes in all facets of their lives has translated into members of the Mizzou squad earning spots on the Academic All-Conference Team 43 times, on the Spring SEC Honor Roll 35 times and on the National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar team 31 times. In 2017-18, seven of Priesmeyer's golfers landed on the Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll, which led all Southeastern Conference women's golf teams. In 2019-20, all three of Mizzou's freshmen earned SEC First-Year Honor Roll honors.
In fact, in each of the last 19 seasons under Priesmeyer's guidance, the Tigers have had a cumulative grade-point average over 3.0 including an all-time best 3.61 this past spring in 2020.
The 2019-20 campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Tigers were able to claim their sixth straight Johnie Imes Invite title and the 30th in program history. Mizzou saw an infusion of newcomers jolt the lineup as junior transfer Noelle Beijer, freshman Sophia Yoemans and freshman Bri Bolden started all seven tournaments. Priesmeyer helped Beijer post the third-best single-season scoring average (72.75) in program history and Yoemans and Bolden secure the third and fourth-best season scoring averages by freshmen in program history with a 75.6 and 75.9, respectively. As a team, the Tigers posted a 297.5 scoring average, the fifth-best ever. All 10 teams on that list came under Priesmeyer's tutelage.
The 2018-19 season saw her lineup post a strong fall season where they ranked among the top 60 in the nation, and included a fifth-straight Johnie Imes Invitational team title. Unfortunately, injuries to veterans Jessica Yuen and Cherise Otter kept them from full strength in the spring, and despite the outstanding play of seniors Amanda Kim, Emma Allen and Cayce Hendrickson, the Tigers were unable to advance to the post-season. In between, Yuen earned a very prestigious honor for the program, as she was invited to play in the first-ever Augusta Women's National Amateur in April.
The 2017-18 season saw big things take place, as Mizzou claimed one tournament title (Johnie Imes) and had two other top-three finishes. The Tigers closed the regular season with a solid eighth-place finish at the 2018 SEC Championships, and advanced to match play, where they reached the quarterfinals before being edged by number-one seeded South Carolina, 3-0-2. Mizzou impressed the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee enough throughout the course of the year to earn a bid to the Tallahassee Regional, where they finished in 10th place overall.
The future is bright for Priesmeyer's squad, thanks in large part to the senior Yuen, who emerged in 2017-18 as one of the nation's top young players. Yuen averaged 72.67 strokes per round that season, which was the second-best mark in Mizzou history. Moreover, her stellar play down the stretch (with top-16 finishes in each of MU's last three regular-season events) helped guide the Tigers into NCAA play. Yuen finished 12th individually at both the 2018 SEC Championships, as well as the Tallahassee Regional, and thanks to her final-round six-under par 66 at regionals, she advanced to the NCAA Championships - becoming only the second Tiger in history to qualify individually for the national championship. Yuen shot an even-par 72 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. at the NCAA Championships, and would go on to tie for 57th place individually.
Priesmeyer's squads have managed a complete rewrite of the MU record books - especially of late. Her 2015-16 squad established the lowest stroke average at 291.9, and that team claimed two tournament titles in the fall season (Johnie Imes and Lady Paladin). The 2016-17 team stands with the number-two average in program history (293.7), while the 2017-18 team sits third with their recently-completed season average of 295.4.
In 2013-14, Priesmeyer led her team to new heights as the Tigers set the then-school record with a stroke average of 300.12. Not only that but she saw two freshmen set class records with their stroke averages in consecutive seasons. Most recently, Jess Meek finished the 2013-14 season with a record 76.00 stroke average. Meek also led the Tigers through the SEC Tournament, earning a 10th place finish individually.
The 2012-13 season marked Mizzou's first run in the Southeastern Conference and a major turning point for Mizzou Golf. Under Priesmeyer's direction, the Tigers started the year off strong, closing the fall season with three consecutive second place finishes and two fourth place finishes. Michelle Butler garnered two prestigious awards in the N4A Wilma Rudolph Award and the Mizzou Student Union Programming Board's annual Unsung Hero Award. Priesmeyer and her Tigers also began construction on the new Walsworth Family Golf Center. The indoor/outdoor team facility was made possible by the generosity of Don and Audrey Walsworth along with many others. Located at The Club at Old Hawthorne, the Walsworth Family Golf Center provides Mizzou Golf with an abundance of resources it previously did not have access to. The facility includes two indoor heated hitting bays, team locker rooms, team lounges, coaching offices, a swing pattern analysis video station, a private putting green and chipping area.
The 2011-12 season marked the program's final run in the Big 12 Conference. The team closed out the season with eight top-10 finishes including a tie for second overall at the Texas State Claude Jacobs Invitational. Kate Gallagher excelled not only on the course that season, but also in the classroom as she was named to the NGCA All-American Scholar Team. Not only that but senior Kelly Osborne was one of just 13 student-athletes to receive the Dr. Gerald Lage Award from the Big 12 Conference.
In 2010-11 Missouri's young squad finished strong. Despite the growing pains that often surface with a youthful team, Missouri rallied to finish third at the 2011 Big 12 Championships at The Club at Old Hawthorne, led by freshman Taylor Gohn. The Indiana native finished ninth overall, earning All-Tournament team accolades, and actually helped Mizzou into a tie for first late in the final round. Overall Mizzou defeated five nationally ranked clubs and capped a season that saw steady improvement heading into 2011-12.
The Tigers opened the Fall 2009 season by picking up their ninth tournament title under Priesmeyer, winning the Chip-N Club Invitational. The team closed the fall at the record-breaking appearance at the Challenge at Onion Creek, setting a new school record with an 18-hole team score of 283 in the second round of the tournament. Mizzou has claimed nine tournament titles under Priesmeyer, and over the course of past 13 seasons, she has led the Tigers to 94 top-10's and 40 top-three finishes.
In 2009-10, Missouri picked up six top-five finishes, highlighted by a second place showing at the Johnie Imes Invitational. The Tigers finished among the top-six in four of their five fall tournaments in 2008-09 and had a string of three-straight top-five finishes in the spring.
The Tigers finished in the top-10 in nine of their 12 tournaments in 2007-08. They took the tournament title at the Johnie Imes Invitational, the eighth championship for MU under Priesmeyer's leadership. Missouri also was in second place at the Marilynn Smith Invitational before the final round was rained out. The 2007-08 Tigers finished fourth at the Big 12 Conference Championships, their third top-four finish in the last four years. Also, in 2008, Julia Potter was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 Team. Missouri advanced to its fifth-straight NCAA Regionals in 2006-07 and recorded six top-10 finishes, including four top-fives. In 2005-06, Priesmeyer's team finished in the top-10 in nine of its 11 tournaments. Missouri claimed three top-three's in its five fall 2006 tournaments, highlighted by a first-place finish at the Price's Give `em Five tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. In the spring season, the Tigers took three top-five's and finished fourth at the Big 12 Conference Championships.
In 2006, Stephanie Wavro earned All-Big 12 Conference honors after finishing second at the Conference Championships. She was the second Tiger to claim runner-up at the conference tournament under Priesmeyer. Former Tiger and current assistant coach Mindy Bullard took second place in 2002.
Priesmeyer's approach to teaching the game of golf is to get the maximum output of talent from each individual on the squad. Under her watchful eye, several individuals had record setting seasons in 2004-05.
In 2003-04, Mizzou finished in the top three in seven of the 11 tournaments it competed in. Priesmeyer led the Tigers to their first tournament championship under her tutelage at the Illinois State Redbird Classic in the fall.
With the success the Tigers experienced during the regular season, the coaches from around the Big 12 voted Priesmeyer the Big 12 Coach of the Year, her first such honor. Denise Knaebel and Maria Ohlsson were also recognized by the Big 12 for their outstanding accomplishments under the watchful eye of Priesmeyer, earning All-Big 12 First Team and Second Team honors respectively. Following the rain-shortened Big 12 Championships (in which Mizzou finished sixth), it was announced that Priesmeyer and Tigers would be headed back to NCAA Central Regional where they finished 13th. After registering four top-10 finishes in five tournaments in the fall of 2002, Priesmeyer's Tigers showed they belonged in the upper echelon of the Big 12 Conference with an amazing 2003 spring effort. The Tigers finished no worse than sixth in five of their seven tournaments. Mizzou's pinnacle performance came at the Big 12 Tournament when they took home runner-up honors by only one stroke to defending champion Oklahoma State. Three Tigers medaled as individuals (Bullard - 2nd, Knaebel - 8th and Elin Ohlsson - 9th) in the competition.
Priesmeyer, a 1994 graduate of Mizzou (B.S., Education), returned to her alma mater after a very successful stint as head girls golf coach at Columbia (Mo.) Hickman High School from 1996-2001. She compiled a record of 62-15-1 over her six years at Hickman. Her Kewpies recorded four district championships (1995, 1996, 1999, 1900), and top-10 state championship finishes in five of six years (4th in 1995; 2nd in 1996; 6th in 1997; 7th in 1999 and 8th in 2000).
Priesmeyer also served as the Hickman boys golf coach from 1998-2000, and compiled a record of 39-13-4 in that three-year span, notching two district championships (1999, 1900) and three top-10 state showings (5th in 1998; 10th in 1999 and 6th in 2000). She also amassed a 56-5 record the last three years as head coach of the Hickman girls junior varsity basketball team. Along with her high school coaching, Priesmeyer has served as an instructor for the Perche Creek Junior Golf Camps.
A native of Seymour, Ind., Priesmeyer played golf at MU for former coaches Mary Scott and Tom Loyd from 1990-94. A multiple-time Dean's List honoree, Priesmeyer was named academic All-Big Eight as a senior in 1994. The former Stephanie Cooper was married in January of 2005 to husband Scott. The couple has two sons, Cooper and Hudson.
