Newberry College Women's Golf

Childs enter her third season as head women's golf coach at Newberry College after being hired in January 2012. In 2013-14, Childs led the Wolves to a first place finish at the Don Benbow Collegiate Inviatational and six Top-10 finishes. She coached Marianna Monaco to Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SAC honors and Sophia Opitz to Second Team All-SAC honors. Childs has coached the last two consecutive South Atlantic Conference champion teams in 2012 and 2013 and was named the SAC Coach of the Year in 2013. Newberry has also earned medalist honors at the SAC Championship in those two seasons, with Barbara Castro in 2013 and Maria Luz Besio in 2012. In September of 2013 Childs was named Southeast Sectional Coach of the Year by the LPGA, becoming the first Division II and South Carolina coach to win the award. Childs has coached a first team All-American (Besio), three CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-Americans, three WGCA All-American scholars, three all-region players, eight All-SAC honorees, and a SAC Freshman of the Year. The Wolves also advanced to the NCAA Division II South Regional tournament in 2012 and 2013. Childs is one of the top women's golfers in University of South Carolina history and comes to the Newberry campus with experience in the LPGA as well as in the collegiate coaching ranks. Childs previously served as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina for five seasons, before moving to a volunteer assistant role in 2002 after joining the LPGA Tour. Childs joined the LPGA Tour in 2002 and played on the Tour through 2007, competing in 71 career events, averaging 74.3 strokes per round in 171 rounds over her career. In 2004, Childs carded a career-low 67 during the final round of the Longs Drugs Challenge. Her top tournament finish was a tie for 27th at the 2007 State Farm LPGA Classics at the Panther Creek CC in Springfield, Ill., with a 5-under par 283. From 1997-2001, Childs competed on the SBC Futures Tour and posted 10 top-10 finishes and recorded a hole-in-one at the 1998 U.S. Women's Open. Childs hit a hole-in-one in her first-ever U.S. Women's Open in 1998. The hole-in-one was the 14th-ever in the U.S. Women's Open's history. Childs' top three sponsors in her LPGA career were popular South Carolina band Hootie and the Blowfish, the Grande Dunes Resort in Myrtle Beach and Bridgestone Golf. In her collegiate career, Childs was a four-year all-Southeastern Conference honoree who competed at South Carolina from 1992-96 and was a key member of Gamecock teams that advanced to the NCAA Championships in 1993, 1995 and 1996. Childs earned first-team all-SEC honors in 1994 and 1995. She finished third at the 1995 SEC Championships and finished 14th at the 1995 NCAA Championships with a score of 71-75-74-76=296 to help Carolina to a ninth-place finish at NCAAs, marking the school's best showing ever at the NCAA Championships. Childs was South Carolina's top finisher at the 1996 NCAA East Regional, finishing 12th with a score of 77-71-78=226. She had seven top-five finishes during her career as a Gamecock, a mark that ranks third in school history. Childs earned medalist honors at the 1993 Carolyn Cudone Intercollegiate and graduated from Carolina in 1996 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. Childs also has recent experience as a tournament director with the Plantations Junior Golf Tour, and as a real estate agent in the South Carolina Midlands.

Vroon was hired as Newberry College's director of golf and head men's golf coach on November 1, 2011. Vroon oversees both Newberry's nationally-ranked men's and women's golf teams. In his time at Newberry, Vroon has coached a pair of individual qualifiers at the NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional Tournaments - Chandler Gruenemeier in 2013 and Matt Campbell in 2012. Both of those players earned all-region honors and were honorable mention to All-America teams. Campbell earned SAC medalist honors in 2012 and was one of three all-SAC golfers Vroon has coached at Newberry. Vroon led the Wolves to the tournament title at the Irish Creek Invitational in February 2014. Vroon came to Newberry after two years as the assistant coach for the women's golf program at the College of Charleston. Prior to his time with the Cougars, Vroon was the director of golf and head men's and women's golf coach at Charleston Southern University for 11 seasons. Vroon led the CSU programs to six Big South Conference championships (four for the women's team and two for the men's team). The Charleston Southern women's golf program won three consecutive Big South Conference championships beginning in 1999. Under Vroon the women's team became the first women's athletics program in CSU history to advance to postseason play. The team did so by winning the 2001 Big South Conference championship and advancing to the 2001 NCAA East Regional, where they finished 14th. The program won its fourth Big South Championship in 2008. The women's program also won four team tournament titles under Vroon. With Vroon at the helm the Charleston Southern men's golf team won its first ever Big South Conference championship in 2001, and won its second in 2003. The program earned team invitations to the 2001 and 2003 NCAA East Regional. In addition, team members earned individual invitations to the NCAA tournament in 2002 and 2006. In 2001, the men's team missed advancing to the National Championship by one shot. Under Vroon, the men's team reached a ranking as high as 54th in the country. In 11 seasons, the men's program amassed 20 team tournament titles, and in 11 Big South Conference championships, the men's team finished first or second 9 times. During his tenure at CSU, Vroon was voted Big South Conference Coach of the Year six times. Vroon's strength as a coach is player development. He is committed to helping his players improve both physically and mentally. He strives to impart a working knowledge to each player of simple swing mechanics, from putting to the long game. He drives each player to learn what his or her mental strengths are, and to put those into practice consistently. Vroon is committed to equipping each of his players with the physical, mental and emotional tools to succeed at golf beyond collegiate play. He is currently coaching three professional players. Vroon graduated from Calvin College in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in economics and philosophy. At Calvin, Vroon was the captain of the golf team for three years. He then attended Duke University Law School, earning a JD, and Duke's Graduate School of Philosophy, earning a master's degree.