Sept. 7, 2011
For the first time in 18 seasons, a new head coach takes the reins of the Baylor women's golf program. Jay Goble enters his first season as Baylor head coach after a successful three-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Florida, taking over for legendary women's golf coach Sylvia Ferdon. While at Florida, Goble helped the Gators to three NCAA postseason appearances, including a trip to the NCAA Championship. Prior to coaching at Florida, he enjoyed a successful tenure as a golf instructor at the IMG David Leadbetter Golf Academy.
Baylor has advanced to the NCAA postseason in nine of the last 11 seasons, but the Lady Bears missed out on the postseason in 2011. Goble brings with him an experience in developing players and he believes his coaching philosophies will help in leading Baylor back to the NCAA postseason.
"I bring experience in developing players and making them better. I did that for several years at the IMG David Leadbetter Academy and I brought that philosophy to Florida," Goble said. "We consistently got better each year at UF, but I'm not saying that's totally due to me. What I do is set things in place to help each player get better.
"I'm definitely very structured, but I also believe that, in order for them to become better, they need be on the course a lot. The more comfortable you are on the course, the better you're going to play."
With a new coach come new techniques and a new style of coaching. And while golf is an individual sport, it is played as a team and Goble's coaching style allows him to "base everything around each individual golfer's needs." Not only does Goble bring a new approach, he also brings a new assistant coach, former Tennessee standout Diana Cantu. The Monterey, Mexico, native was a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member and a two-time second-team All-SEC performer.
Cantu brings both collegiate and international playing experience to Waco. She won the 2005 Mexican Amateur championship and has been a member of the Mexican National Team since 2005.
"Dating back to her collegiate playing days, Diana has proven to be a great golfer," Goble said. Not only is she an awesome golfer, she's a great person and recruiter. The great thing about her is that she complements me.
"She's played collegiately at a high level - something I never did - and that will help our golfers play well. She has the best short game I've ever seen," Goble said. "To have someone with such a great short game is an awesome resource for the team."
Goble inherits three returners, including senior starters Jaclyn Jansen and Chelsey Cothran, the latter who advanced to the NCAA West Regional as an individual. Both started all 10 tournaments a season ago; Cothran led the Lady Bears with a 74.85 scoring average - the fourth-lowest single-season mark in program history. She posted a team-best seven top-25 finishes. Jansen ranked second to Cothran in scoring average (75.26), score vs. par (3.32) and rounds of par better (seven). The Effingham, Ill., posted a team-best three top-10 finishes.
Last season, Baylor relied heavily on Cothran and Jansen; ninety-five percent of the duo's combined rounds (Cothran 31-of-31, Jansen 28-of-31) counted towards the team score. Joining the seniors is sophomore Kaylin Terry, who started in six of Baylor's 10 regular-season tournaments last season as a true freshman.
"Chelsey (Cothran) and Jaclyn (Jansen) have been (to the NCAA postseason)," Goble said. "Between them and Kaylin (Terry), they possess a lot of tournament experience. With them anchoring a talented squad, I totally expect us to return to the NCAA postseason this year."
Goble does welcome one newcomer, senior Valerie Sternebeck, who he considers a veteran and one of the team leaders. Sternebeck transferred to Baylor after graduating from the University of Koblenz-Rhein and is enrolled as a graduate student. Despite having only one year of eligibility, Goble believes Sternebeck, who has been a member of Germany's Ladies Golf team since 2003, adds a tremendous amount of experience.
"Go ahead and throw Valerie (Sterneback) in with our two returning seniors. She's very experienced in international tournament play and has played on the German National Team. With her being in graduate school and having played internationally, she gets it. She'll be a great asset having another upperclassman on our team."
"I think all three will be real team leaders," Goble said. "Looking at the lineup and with all the tournament experience, I don't see how we couldn't be successful with the team we have.
Even though she brings an invaluable amount of experience to the team, Sternebeck is one of five newcomers - including four freshmen - to Goble's squad. The cornerstone of the freshman class is the English duo of Hayley Davis and Emma Carberry. Davis won the 2010 English Women's Golf Association (EWGA) Girls' Order of Merit and she represented England at the 2011 European Ladies' Team Championship and Girls' Home International. Carberry finished 36th in the 2010 EWGA Girls' Order of Merit and also advanced to the match play portion of the English Girls National Tournament in 2009.
Both are expected to see considerable time in the lineup and make an immediate impact as true freshmen.
"The thing that struck me (about Emma) was that she's super athletic and when you watch her hit golf balls, you know she's only going to get better," Goble said. "She's not someone who has peaked in her golf game.
"Hayley (Davis), on other hand, has tons of experience," Goble said. "She is a veteran tournament golfer and is going to fit into our lineup really well."
Two more freshmen - Lauren Fender and Stani Schiavone - round out the remainder of Baylor's newcomers. Fender was a multi-sport athlete at Lee's Summit (Mo.) West High School and was a PGA Midwest Section and Stateline Tour medalist. She qualified for the 35th Junior PGA Championship in 2011 by winning the girls division of the Midwest Junior PGA Championship.
"Lauren (Fender) is incredibly determined and has an amazing work ethic and desire to get better," Goble said. "She's the type of student-athlete you want; she's very focused on doing everything well."
Schiavone, a Wendy's High School Heisman Award nominee, was a four-time all-state golfer at Bangor (Pa.) Area Senior High School as well as an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) HP Scholastic Junior All-American team member. The duo solidifies an impressive freshman class for the Lady Bears.
"Stani (Schiavone) embodies the total package as an athlete. If you give her a basketball, she'll hit a three-pointer. If you give her a bat, she'll hit a home run. I foresee a very bright future for her."
After missing the NCAA postseason twice in the previous three years, Goble has set the bar high for the Lady Bears in his first season as head coach. With three returning starters and the addition of five highly-touted newcomers, Goble believes Baylor has the talent to make it to the NCAA Championship for the second time in program history.
"I have very high goals for this team; I foresee us making to the NCAA Championship - that's the ultimate tournament for women's golf. That's what we play for. Looking up and down the roster, with the talent we have, that shouldn't be a problem. We're certainly talented enough to do it.
"We're going to work hard on the process and we are not going to get too fixated on the big prize. Part of that process is setting up a competitive schedule, getting comfortable in tournaments and playing against better players and better teams. All of those things will us prepare us in achieving our goal of making the NCAA Championship."
Baylor's 2011-12 season tees off Sept. 12-13 at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, Colo.
