SMU Hires Lauren Mason As Women’s Golf Head Coach

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Hires Lauren Mason As Women’s Golf Head Coach

SMU announced the hire of Lauren Mason as head coach of the women's golf program. Mason comes to the Hilltop after two seasons in charge of the men's and women's golf programs at Texas A&M-Commerce and a standout playing career at Texas Tech.

"I am excited to take the women's program at SMU to new heights and build upon the solid foundation that currently exists," Mason said. "The Payne Stewart SMU Golf Training Center at Trinity Forest is one of the best golf facilities in the nation and I am eager to utilize such fantastic resources on a daily basis when developing current and future players. SMU is well equipped to create a championship program and reestablish a winning tradition."

"I would like to thank Rick Hart, Kurt Pottkotter, and Brad Sutton for the opportunity to lead the women's program," Mason added. "I am proud to call SMU home and cannot wait to get started!"

Mason guided both the Lion men's and women's programs to NCAA Division II top-10 finishes in 2021, reaching the medal-match play quarterfinals with the men and finishing ninth with the women. Both were the best national finishes in Texas A&M-Commerce history, as the women made their first appearance at the finals site, and the men made just their second.

In her two-year tenure as head coach, the Lion women finished top-three in 12 of 16 tournaments, including two tournament wins at the Jack Brown Memorial and West Texas A&M Desert Invitational in 2021. The Lion men also had two tournament victories, at the Midwestern State Invitational in 2020-21 and the 2021 NCAA Super Regional. In her first season as head coach, the Lions were poised to earn a postseason selection, ranked inside the top-30 at the time of the season's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She coached a total of 13 all-conference selections in three seasons in Commerce, nine of which came while she was head coach (five women's, four men's), and four all-region selections (three women's, one men's). In 2021, her teams produced both the men's and women's Lone Star Conference's Newcomer of the Year, and saw the first two All-American selections in Lion women's golf history, plus an additional All-American selection on the men's side.

Her teams have been successful in their studies, as the Lion women were named the 2020 Lone Star Conference Academic Champions, and seven players (six women, one man) were named All-American Scholars. In her two years as head coach, her teams posted GPAs above 3.00 each season.

As an assistant at Texas A&M-Commerce, she helped the Lions reach the NCAA Super Regional, the women's program's first trip to the NCAA postseason.

In four seasons at Texas Tech, she played in every event, posting a school-record 134 rounds, and competed in two NCAA Championships for the Red Raiders. She won co-medalist honors at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate, and posted two top-15 finishes at the Big 12 Championships. She graduated from Texas Tech with both a bachelor's (2017) and master's (2018) in sport management

Mason is a native of Queensland, Australia, and was the second-ranked amateur player from the country entering college. She represented her country several times in international competition, and earned status on the Symetra Tour for the 2019 season.

Mason By The Numbers:
13: All-Conference selections
7: All-America Scholars (6 women's, 1 men's)
4: Tournaments Victories (2 men's, 2 women's)
3: All-Americans (2 women's, 1 men's)
2: NCAA Division II Championships Appearances as head coach (one men's, one women's)

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Joshua Aguilar Hired As Women's Golf Assistant

SMU announced the hire of Joshua Aguilar as the Assistant Coach for the women's golf program. Aguilar comes to the Hilltop after serving as men's and women's golf assistant coach at Dallas Baptist, helping the Patriot women to a NCAA Division II National Championship in 2021. Aguilar was named the NCAA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year by the Women's Golf Coaches Association in 2021.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Coach Mason at SMU," Aguilar said. "SMU is an established program with some of the best facilities in the country. I am excited to start and build a championship program here with her. Thank you to all the previous players I coached at Dallas Baptist and my family who made this possible for me to be here."

"I'm excited to work with Joshua and accomplish great things together," head coach Lauren Mason said. "He is highly-regarded as a coach and has a wealth of knowledge and a national championship pedigree. I am thankful we are on this journey together."

The Patriots won their first NCAA title in 2021, winning the Lone Star Conference Championship on the way to NCAA glory. Dallas Baptist won an astounding 10 straight tournaments from the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2021, including the 2021 Kiawah Island Classic, where the Patriots bested 40 Division I teams to win by 27 strokes. In his two seasons as an assistant at DBU, the Patriot women never finished worse than third in a tournament, and won 14 times.

In two seasons, Aguilar coached nine WGCA All-Americans and 10 All-Lone Star Conference selections, including two LSC players of the year. On the men's side, he helped the Patriots reach the 2021 NCAA Super Regionals, and coached three All-LSC selections.

Aguilar played his college golf at DBU, where he was a two-time All-Heartland Conference pick and led the Patriots to three conference crowns. He was the first person on the men's side in school history to advance to the NCAA National Championships in 2015, and helped the Patriots to a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2016.

Aguilar graduated from Dallas Baptist in 2017 with a master's in counseling and a bachelor's in psychology. A native of Pecos, Texas, Aguilar and his wife, Shelby, reside in Grapevine.

Aguilar by the numbers:
16: All-America Scholar Athletes (10 women's, six men's)
15: Tournament Wins (14 women's, one men's)
13: All-Conference Selections (10 women's, three men's)
9: WGCA All-America selections
1: WGCA Freshman of the Year
2021: NCAA Division II National Champions

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Sound like good coaches!