The fledgling Virginia women's golf program has its first coach.
Athletic director Craig Littlepage announced Tuesday the hiring of Jan Mann as head coach of the women's golf team.
Mann has been the head coach for the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks for the past eight seasons and will inherit the task of building a program in the University's 25th intercollegiate sport, which begins competition in fall 2003.
William C. Eacho Jr. and his wife, Linda, of Bethesda, Md. founded the sport at the University in August 2001 with a $1.4 million endowment.
"I am honored to become the first women's golf coach at the University of Virginia, and I am excited about joining a university with such strong academic and athletic traditions," Mann said in a release. "I look forward to working with the athletic department staff, the university and the community of Charlottesville."
Mann and her husband, John, have relocated to Charlottesville, and she officially began her duties with the University on June 18.
"One of my fist tasks will be to get out on the road recruiting to build the foundation of a strong women's golf program at the University of Virginia," Mann said.
Mann is recognized as one of the top golf instructors in the country and led UNC-Wilmington to its first ever NCAA regional appearance in 2002. She was named the Big South Coach of the Year in 2002 after leading the Seahawks to the Big South Conference championship.
"We are very excited to have a coach of Jan Mann's stature join our staff," Senior Associate Athletic Director Jane Miller said in a release. "Not only is she a respected teacher and coach, she is also a wonderful role model. With eight years of successful coaching experience at the Division I level, she is absolutely the right person to build our women's golf program."
Mann's teams at UNC-Wilmington maintained the highest grade point average of the university's 19 athletic teams and featured nine National Golf Coaches Association Academic All-Americans. Last season, 10 of the golf team's 11 members earned a 3.27 GPA or better, and the team received the school's 2001 Leadership Award for performance in the classroom, in the community and on the course.
Mann also serves on the NCAA Women's Division I Golf Committee and is co-chair of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee. She is a member of the NGCA Education Committee and was recognized by Golf Digest as one of the top teachers in North Carolina in 2000 and 2001.
"Those close to the women's college golf community feel the University of Virginia can compete at the highest levels nationally," Littlepage said. "Hiring a veteran coach of Jan Mann's caliber not only gives our program instant credibility, it demonstrates that we will build a program the right way."
Mann, a native of Jacksonville, N.C., is a cum laude graduate of UNC-Wilmington and a Class A member of the Professional Golf Association and the Ladies Professional Golf Association Teaching and Club Professional Division. She began her career as an assistant golf professional at the Cape Golf and Racquet Club in Wilmington and later moved to the Echo Farms Golf and Country Club.
Mann moved to Point Clear, Ala., to focus on teaching at the John Jacobs Golf Schools. She moved back to North Carolina in 1991 to become a teaching professional at Pinehurst as director of the Golf Schools and the Teaching Center. She remained at Pinehurst until joining the UNC-Wilmington staff in 1995.
There are now 13 intercollegiate women's sports at the University of Virginia.
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