Pepperdine University Women's Golf

Gibbs has had Pepperdine in contention for a national championship multiple times. The last 18 seasons have established Pepperdine as one of the nations top golf programs. The Waves have appeared in the NCAA Championships 11 times, with eight top-10 finishes and four top-five showings, including a program-best second-place result in 2003. Gibbs has led Pepperdine to West Coast Conference championships in 17 of the last 19 years, including a streak of 14 titles that ran from 2002-15. Over the course of her career, the Waves have won 49 team tournament titles and have had 47 individual medalist honors. Gibbs was selected the 2004-05 National Coach of the Year by Golfweek, was tabbed the West Region Coach of the Year on two occasions (1999 and 2003) and has been honored 12 times as the WCCs Coach of the Year (1998, 99, 00, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 12 and 15). She has also been honored twice as Pepperdines Coach of the Year (1998-99 and 2002-03). In addition to securing the use of four quality facilities for practice purposes, Gibbs has helped improve the on-campus practice facilities at Pepperdine and has stepped up the Waves recruiting efforts. In 2007, the program fundraising efforts during Gibbs tenure went over $1 million. After serving on the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee, Gibbs was selected to serve a four-year term (2003-07) as one of three coaches on the Division I NCAA Womens Golf Committee. She also served on the USGA/NCAA Intercollegiate Committee. Her players have earned All-American honors 28 times, and the Waves have had at least one All-American every season since 2000. Katherine Hull earned 2003 NCAA Division I Player of the Year honors by the National Golf Coaches Association as well as the Dinah Shore Award and finished as a three-time All-American. Lindsey Wright and Grace Na were both four-time All-Americans. Nine of Gibbs Waves have gone on to play on the LPGA Tour: Hull, Na, Wright, Misun Cho, Tamie Durdin, Danielle Kang, Carolina Llano, Nadina Taylor and Taylore Karle. The Waves finished in fifth place at their first-ever NCAA Championships in 1999, and that began a remarkable run. The Waves posted seven more top-10 finishes over the next 10 years, including second place (2003), third place (2006) and fourth place (2005). They had their best-ever end-of-season Golfweek rankings in 2003 (#2), 2005 (#4), 2006 (#5) and 2007 (#5). Gibbs efforts nearly paid off with a national title in 2003 as she guided the Waves to their most successful season in school history. Pepperdine claimed a program-record five straight tournament titles at one point and finished second at the NCAA Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. The Waves also achieved a program first that season as they gained a #1 national ranking during the spring in both ranking systems. Pepperdine has finished a top-25 ranking in 15 of the last 18 years. Prior to being hired as the head womens golf coach at Pepperdine, Gibbs was a PGA teaching professional at the nearby Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles and competed on the Womens Western Professional Golf Tour. In addition to playing and teaching, Gibbs authored and marketed ProTips, a quick reference guide for golfers. Gibbs attended and played collegiate golf at Long Beach State on an athletic scholarship and graduated from Santa Monica College. Gibbs and her husband, Chris, have a daughter, Catherine, and a son, Christopher, and reside in nearby Calabasas.

Craig rejoined the program as its assistant coach and spent five seasons working with the Waves between 2011-12 and 2015-16. The Waves won four West Coast Conference titles with Craig on staff and placed 21st at the 2012 NCAA Championships. Craig, a native of Australia who graduated from Pepperdine in 2008 with a degree in integrated marketing communications, became the sixth player in school history to earn four-time All-West Coast Conference first team honors. She posted a career average of 75.61 strokes, which ranked #7 all-time at Pepperdine when she completed her career. She was part of four WCC championship teams, earning co-medalist honors at the 2008 event and never placing any worse than fifth place. Craig was a member of three teams that finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships, including a third-place national finish in 2006 and fourth place in 2005. "I am very pleased that Leanne has accepted the position as our assistant coach," Pepperdine Coach Laurie Gibbs said at Craig's hiring in September 2011. "Her knowledge and experience as a former Wave and professional golfer will be a great asset to the program." Craig had been playing well during her second year on the Futures Tour but elected to retire partway through the 2011 season. She tied for second place at the 2011 Tate & Lyle Players Championship with an 11-under 277, and through seven tournaments, she ranked 12th on the tour's money list. However, soon after that she retired from an active golf career in order to begin the next stage of her life. "I gave professional golf a shot," Craig said at the time of her hiring. "Going into it, I knew the lifestyle wasn't for me, but I wanted to see what it was like. I made the decision, and then I started playing great. It was nice not having the pressure. "I am really excited to be coming back to Pepperdine. I had a great college experience there and loved every minute of it. I loved being part of the team and playing for Coach Gibbs." Between graduating from Pepperdine and starting her professional career, Craig got her first taste of coaching at Westridge Girls School in Pasadena, Calif., as a volunteer assistant in the fall of 2008. "Trying to guide the girls in the right direction and teach them about golf was great," she said. "I had talked to Coach Gibbs about coaching in the past, and asked her if she thought I would be good at it, and she said yes. I'm really excited to be working with her now." Formerly Leanne Bowditch, she married former Pepperdine baseball player Michael Craig during the summer of 2011. They welcomed their first child, Lucas, in October 2013. Her brother, Steven Bowditch, plays on the PGA Tour.