Jeanne Sutherland retires as women's golf coach

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Sutherland Announces Her Retirement

DALLAS – After 10 seasons on the Hilltop and 25 seasons of college coaching, SMU Head Coach Jeanne Sutherland announced her retirement today. She led the Mustangs to a school-record five consecutive NCAA Regional appearances from 2013-17, and her teams hold each of the top nine spots on SMU's all-time annual scoring average list.

"I'd like to thank SMU and Rick Hart for the opportunity to coach here," said Sutherland. "My ten years at SMU were filled with joy, success and a lot of hard work. I had many great players and even more great people on our teams here at SMU. It's a place that allowed me to be player-focused and develop all facets of the teams I coached."

"I had two great assistants in my ten years, David Von Ins and Rise Alexander," Sutherland added. "Both of them were tireless workers and gave all they had to the program. We would not have been as successful or felt as much camaraderie without their presence and leadership."

"I want to thank Jeanne for her time here at SMU and wish her happiness in retirement," said SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart. "Year in and year out, her student-athletes have praised their SMU experience and her leadership, and she was truly committed to preparing them for life. We look forward to having her remain a friend of the SMU golf program."

She made 18 of the 24 possible regionals in her coaching career at SMU and Texas A&M, and sent at least one individual to the postseason in three of the other six seasons. Sutherland won eight tournaments at SMU, and a total of 21 in her career, which tied for 20th among active coaches entering the 2020-21 season.

During her tenure, both Texas A&M and SMU opened new golf facilities. The Payne Stewart SMU Golf Training Center at Trinity Forest Golf Club opened in 2017 and features a team facility, an indoor hitting bay with state-of-the-art TrackMan technology and a practice area with a driving range, putting and chipping green plus a nine-hole short course. The Wahlberg Aggie Golf Learning Center opened at Traditions Club during her tenure in College Station.

She had a total of 15 all-conference selections at SMU, with at least one selection every year at SMU. In her 25-year career, she had a total of 36 all-conference selections, and 91 conference all-academic selections, between the Southwest Conference, Big 12, Conference USA and American Athletic Conference.

She had nine top-two finishes at the conference championship, including three Big 12 championships. She twice had second-place finishes at the American Athletic Conference Championship.

Sutherland had two stints working as a professional at Vail (Colorado) GC, including as the head professional from 2007-11 prior to accepting the SMU job. The Dubuque, Iowa native was an All-American at Northern Iowa, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and teaching with a minor in coaching. She holds a masters' degree in physical education and athletic administration from Iowa. She is a member of two Halls of Fame, the University of Northern Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame and the Dubuque (Iowa) High School Athletics Hall of Fame.