Auburn University Women's Golf

Luellen Head Coach 2nd Season at Auburn 17th Season Overall   Melissa Luellen, who spent the past 13 years as the women's golf coach at Arizona State and led the program to an NCAA title in 2009, is in her second season at Auburn in 2016-17. A 15-year head coaching veteran, Luellen spent two years as head coach of her alma mater at the University of Tulsa from 2001-02 prior to her arrival at ASU. "I am thrilled to welcome Melissa Luellen to the Auburn Family as our new women's golf coach," Jacobs said. "Coach Luellen has consistently produced winners on the course, in the classroom and in the community, and she will be a great fit at Auburn. Coach Luellen has won a National Championship and multiple conference titles, so this hiring once again demonstrates my commitment to winning championships in every sport." During her very successful tenure at Arizona State, Luellen led the program to an NCAA team title, 10 NCAA Top 10 finishes, two conference championships and 25 team titles. She also coached one NCAA Individual Champion, three Pac-12 Golfers of the Year, three NGCA Freshmen of the Year, 14 All-Americans and 21 individual tournament medalists. Luellen's coaching accomplishments have earned her several personal coaching honors. After the Sun Devils' NCAA Championship run in 2009, she was named SkyCaddie NGCA National Coach of the Year. Luellen was also named Pac-10 Coach of the Year three times (2006, 2007, 2009) and West Regional Coach of the Year four times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009). While at Tulsa, Luellen was named Central Regional Coach of the Year in 2002 and WAC Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2002. "I am thrilled to begin the next challenge of my coaching career at Auburn," Luellen said. "I was able to see Auburn from the eyes of a recruit when I was brought in for my `official visit' during the interview process. Auburn has everything a coach and student-athlete could possibly want to be amazing in their sport and their life. Kim Evans built an incredible program at Auburn. My goal is to build on what she accomplished and continue to win championships. I want to thank the Auburn administration for this opportunity and most importantly thank my husband, Mark, for his amazing support in this decision. War Eagle!" Luellen's golfers have also achieved excellence in the classroom. NCAA Champion Azahara Munoz became the first two-time winner of the Edith Cummings Munson Award, which is given to the All-American with the highest grade point average. The following year, Sun Devil Juliana Murcia won the same honor. In her two seasons as Tulsa's head coach, Luellen led her team to seven tournament titles including back-to-back Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Central Regional championships in each year. The 2001-02 season saw her team win five tournaments, including the 2002 PING/ASU Championship at Karsten Golf Course, earn a No. 3 national ranking for most of the season, and finish 12th at the 2002 NCAA Championships. Luellen was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in each of her two seasons and was the 2002 Central Regional Coach of the Year. A four-time All-American for the Golden Hurricane, Luellen succeeded her mother, Dale McNamara, who retired in 2000 following a 26-year career that included four national championships. As a player at Tulsa, Luellen won medalist honors at four tournaments and recorded 22 top-10 finishes in 41 career events. She capped off a stellar collegiate career by capturing a two-stroke individual victory at the 1988 NCAA Championship while leading the Golden Hurricanes to the national team title. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Marketing from Tulsa in 1988, Luellen competed on the Futures and Ladies European Tours in 1988 and 1989 before qualifying for the LPGA Tour in October of 1989. She spent 11 years on the LPGA Tour, winning the 1991 Stratton Mountain LPGA Classic and teamed with Mike Springer to win the 1993 JC Penney Classic. She was also elected to the LPGA Executive Committee in her final two years on the tour. Prior to college, she was a three-time Oklahoma state high school champion, a two-time Women's Oklahoma Golf Association Girls' Junior Champion (1981, 1982), the 1983 WOGA State Amateur, and the 1983 AJGA Player of the Year. Luellen was inducted into the Women's Golf Coaches Association Player Hall of Fame in 1998, the WGCA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014 and the University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. Luellen and her husband, Mark, have a son, Drake, and a daughter, Sydney.  

Pratt begins his fourth season as Auburn's associate head coach for the 2016-17 season. He joined the Tigers' staff on June 7, 2013, after spending the previous two years as head coach at Tulane. His second season in 2014-15 saw him help lead Auburn to a tournament title at the "Mo" Morial in September, a top-10 ranking early in the season, and a 21st consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. In his first season on The Plains in 2013-14, he helped lead the Tigers to their 20th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. Throughout the fall season in 2013, Pratt took over the majority of coaching duties for the Tigers while head coach Kim Evans was undergoing cancer treatment. During his two seasons at Tulane, Pratt compiled an impressive record which includes an appearance at the 2013 NCAA Championship, appearances at both the 2012 and 2013 NCAA Regionals, the 2013 Conference USA title, 11 Top-5 finishes, 12 Top-10 finishes and being named the 2013 Conference USA Coach of the Year. Pratt comes to The Plains after guiding Tulane to one of the finest seasons in program history. He led the Green Wave to a Conference USA title, a school-best runner-up finish at the NCAA East Regionals and to a school-record ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Tulane posted eight Top-5 finishes in 11 tournaments, which included four runner-up showings, and completed the season ranked 13th in the final Golfstat.com poll. Along the way, Tulane set 11 team or individual single season and career records and four golfers completed the year ranked among Golfstat.com's Top-100. For his efforts, Pratt was named the 2013 Conference USA and Louisiana Golf Coach of the Year. Prior to his tenure at Tulane, Pratt spent three seasons as an assistant coach with Tennessee, helping the Lady Vols make three consecutive NCAA Championship appearances and win four regular season tournament titles. Pratt's own professional experience on the links includes four years on the Nationwide Tour (2004-07) where he compiled five Top-10 finishes and came in runner-up at the 2005 Xerox Classic. Additionally, he was the 2004 and 2005 Tennessee State Open Champion, the 2004 Tennessee State Amateur Champion and appeared in the U.S. Amateur Championship (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) and the 2004 British Amateur Championship. A native of Bartlett, Tenn., Pratt played collegiately at Tennessee from 1999-03, lettering all four years, and competed in the 2000 and 2003 NCAA Championship, earned All-SEC Second Team honors in 2002 and was named an All-American Academic three times. He received his undergraduate degree in sports management in 2004. Pratt and his wife, Sara Buff, are the parents of two sons, Cooper and Weston, and a daughter, Grace.

Plunkett is entering her first season with the Auburn men's and women's golf teams. She joined the teams in March 2014 in her current role as Director of Golf Operations. Plunkett joined the Auburn staff after serving as the Assistant Director of Athletic Event Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she coordinated and managed hosting events as well as supervising gameday staff. She also served as tournament director for the 2013 Ruth' Chris Tar Heel Invitational Women's Golf Tournament; as well as the tournament director for the 2013 NCAA Field Hockey Championship. Prior to her time at North Carolina, Plunkett worked with the United States Golf Association as an administrative intern, supervising the operations budget for the intern program as well as developing USGA operations manual to communicate information to USGA staff, interns and vendors. Plunkett earned her bachelor's degreee from Georgia College and State University in 2011, graduating cum laude double majoring in marketing and management. She also served as a graduate assistant at North Carolina, where she received her master's degree in sport administration in 2013. At Georgia College and State University, Plunkett was a four-time letterman and team captain on the women's soccer team. She was selected as a NSCAA third-team All-America, as well as a first-team Academic All-American in 2009. Plunkett also volunteered with the Mia Hamm Foundation, assisting and promoting a silent auction and golf tournament for the organization.