Saint Leo University Women's Golf

Hired on July 26, 2017, Lyndsey Bevill has guided the Lions to two straight regional appearances in her first two seasons. In her 2024–25 campaign, Bevill led the team to the program's 13th NCAA South Regional appearance, highlighted by four top-three team finishes and a fourth-place showing at the Sunshine State Conference Championship. The Lions were paced by junior Olivia Deakins, who earned All-SSC First Team honors and was named a WGCA Division II All-American Honorable Mention. Senior Pia Perthen and junior Ana Valentina-Guarderas were also recognized for their work in the classroom earning their spots on the CSC Academic All-District Team. Bevill’s balanced roster delivered nine top-10 individual finishes over the season, continuing the program’s strong tradition of competitive and academic excellence. Bevill took home the 2024 SSC Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Lions to one of the best seasons in program history opening the 2024 postseason with a Sunshine State Conference tournament title as well as Maya Cote winning the SSC individual title by a three-stroke advantage. Pia Perthen finished tied for fifth to join Cote on the All-Tournament team. In addition to the SSC title, Bevill’s Lions also claimed a team title at the SMSU Classic with Elena Verticchio carding a -1 to take the individual title. The Lions totaled four top three team finishes, taking second place at the NCAA DII National Championship Fall preview and a third-place finish at the Lady Moc 2.0. Olivia Deakins opened the season with a -9 at the DBU Classic to lead the field of 83 golfers. Verticchio and Cote earned All-SSC third team honors. Verticchio was named an All-American by the WGCA and five golfers earned WGCA All-American Scholar honors. In her third season as commander of the healm, Bevill led the Green and Gold to one tournament win which came at the GolfWeek DII Fall Invitational. The Lions finished the year with one tournament title, two runners-up and two third place finishes. Bevill guided five golfers to finish the year in the top-150 golfers in Division II by GolfStat in Francesca Santoni (13th), Synne Lauritzen (22nd), Izzy Lawrence (34th), Isabel Nesteus (56th), and Lucille Lambert (145th). In 2018-19, she saw two golfers advance to the NCAA National Championships in Isabel Nesteus and Izzy Lawrence. Bevill led her team to 10 top-10 finishes including six top-5 tournaments with the best finish of third coming twice at the World Golf Invitational and the Peggy Kirk Bell Memorial. She saw Synne Lauritzen earn WGCA All-American honors following the season with All-Region and All-Sunshine State Conference honors as well.  In her first year at the helm of the Saint Leo Women's Golf team in 2017-18, Lyndsey Bevill guided the Lions to the NCAA Super Regionals where the Green and Gold took sixth with a 921 (+57). Over the year, the Lions placed in the top-10 at all 11 events with nine top-5 finishes including a first place team finish at the Babs Steffens Invitational. Under Bevill's guidance, senior Amanda Jakobsson was named a 2018 WGCA DII First Team All-American while being named a Second Team All-SSC golfer. “We are very excited to have Lyndsey Bevill join us at Saint Leo,” said Francis X. Reidy, Saint Leo’s director of athletics. “Lyndsey has firm roots in Division II athletics, and has been part of a national championship team and a regional power at UIndy. She is ready to lead our program and continue its success.” Bevill was an assistant women’s golf coach for the UIndy Greyhounds for four seasons, after serving as a graduate assistant coach during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. Throughout those six seasons, Bevill assisted in all facets of the program including recruiting, mental and physical player development, scheduling, and travel coordination. Bevill was on the staff for UIndy’s 2015 national championship squad, as well as the Greyhounds’ 2016 team that was national runner-up. UIndy women’s golf won the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in each of Bevill’s six seasons with Greyhound women’s golf, and captured six NCAA East Super Regional championships. Amid the team success during that span, UIndy women’s golfers coached by Bevill captured five GLVC Freshman of the Year awards and five GLVC Player of the Year honors. At least four Greyhounds have earned All-GLVC honors in each of Bevill’s six seasons with UIndy women’s golf. The program also recorded a two-time Academic All-American in Jenny Konop in 2013 and 2014, and three GLVC Student-Athletes of the Year in Konop, Chanice Young, and Paxton DeHaven. “I'm honored and humbled to be named the head women’s golf coach at Saint Leo University. I want to thank Fran Reidy and Mike Madagan and all involved in the hiring process to give me this opportunity,” said Bevill. “It's an honor to be coaching in one of the toughest conferences in Division II golf. This is a tremendous program and I look forward to building off the prior success. I'm excited to see what this program can achieve on the course, in the classroom and in the community. I can't wait to get to work!” Bevill is a 2010 graduate of Northern Kentucky University with a degree in sports business. A four-year member of the Norse women’s golf team, she was a two-time qualifier for the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship, and a three-time NCAA East Super Regional participant. She served as a team captain for the 2009-10 season, and was a member of Northern Kentucky’s 2008 GLVC championship squad. Bevill also earned GLVC All-Academic Team honors during her time at Northern Kentucky, and served on the Norse Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She received her Master of Arts in applied sociology from the University of Indianapolis in 2013.  

Bakers ever-calm demeanor conceals a coach who is passionate about achieving success and seeing his student-athletes reach their utmost potential. Whether they are taking medalist honors in a tournament or simply making that 20-foot putt on a downhill break that has proven elusive in the past, Baker takes pride in seeing his players constantly surpass their previous achievements and maybe even their own expectations. Academically, this son of a university dean doesnt tolerate anything short of his student-athletes best effort in the classroom. Period. Tommy Baker is the consummate fiery coach with uncompromising standards but thats all on the inside. What his players see every day in practice, and every other week in competition, is the combination of teaching instincts and a love of golf that have allowed this seemingly laid-back North Carolinian to mentor Saint Leo womens golf to unprecedented success in just three years at the programs helm. The just-completed 2015-16 season, Bakers third at Saint Leo since getting tabbed for the job in August 2013 as the fourth head coach in program history, ended with the Lions making their first appearance at the NCAA Division II Womens Golf Championship. A final round push allowed Saint Leo to claim a fourth-place tie on the team leaderboard at the 2016 championship at the CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colo. Saint Leos NCAA championship berth capped a post-season stretch that began with the Lions finishing third at the 2016 Sunshine State Conference Championship, and junior Marie Coors earning medalist honors for the second time in three seasons. The run continued with a third-place finish at the NCAA South Region Championship, sending the Lions on to the national championship for the first time in program history. Other honors punctuated the 2015-16 season: the programs first First Team Academic All-American and three WGCA All-America awards more than had been earned in the programs prior history. The success of 2015-16 was just the most recent chapter in what has been the unceasing maturation of Saint Leo womens golf under head coach Tommy Baker. Under Baker's tutelage, the Lions finished fifth at the 2015 NCAA South Region Tournament, improving upon the previous season's finish. Senior Clare Connolly was tied for seventh on the individual leaderboard at the NCAA regional event, carding a three-round total of 221, and becoming Saint Leo's first four-time NCAA regional participant. Connolly ended the year as a WGCA All-South Region selection the second in as many years coached by Baker and, as a sophomore, was the program's first Capital One Academic All-American. This year, Coors also received WGCA All-American Scholar recognition, after finishing among the top 15 at the NCAA South Region event. The Lions finished among the top 10 in all their events during Baker's second season at Saint Leo, including a tournament championship at the Lander University Lady Bearcat Invitational, and a second-place finish at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate in Morganton, N.C. In his first season with the Green and Gold, Baker led the Lions to instant success. The program saw two regular-season tournament first-place team finishes, landing in the top 10 for all eleven tournaments. This success also carried over to crucial end-of-the-year tournaments, including the Lions finishing fifth at the Sunshine State Conference Tournament and earning a selection to the NCAA South Region Tournament, where they finished sixth. At the SSC Championship, golfer Marie Coors finished in first place for the Lions, marking the first time a Saint Leo womens golfer has won the tournament. The guidance of Baker assisted in the placement of Marie Coors at the NCAA DII National Championship, where she finished tied for eighth. In total, the Lions earned sixteen top-10 individual tournament finishes, and numerous accolades were awarded throughout the season, including one WGCA All-South Region selection, one WGCA Second Team All-American, one Second Team All-SSC second team honoree, and one SSC Womens Golfer of the Week award winner. Baker, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, made his way to Saint Leo after serving as the head mens and womens golf coach at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C. Under Bakers tutelage at Coker, the womens golf program was transformed into a regional competitor. During the 2012-13 season alone, the Cobras had three top-5 finishes and they completed eight of nine events in the top-15. In addition to the womens success, Baker guided his mens program to 12 total tournament victories. The mens team also captured the 2012 Conference Carolinas Championship. In his five years with the Coker Cobras, Baker helped to produce more than 70 Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll Recipients, 32 All-Tournament Team Selections, 17 All-Conference Team Selections, 11 team tournament victories, and 10 individual medalist honors. In addition, he led six Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Region Selections, two GCAA All-Freshman Team selections, one Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, one Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, and one PING First Team All-America selection. Along with numerous awards, Bakers teams spent 29 consecutive weeks ranked in the Golf World / Nike Coaches Poll in 2012-13. He also led the Cobras to six NCAA Regional Appearances and one NCAA National Championship appearance. In 2012, his womens golf team also won the Conference Carolinas Team Sportsmanship Award. Adding to his resume, Baker was named the Conference Carolinas Coach of the year in 2009. Prior to his success with the Cobras, Baker was an assistant mens and womens golf coach at his alma mater, UNC Pembroke, for two years. As a member of the UNC Pembroke golf team from 2002-06, Baker was a four-time letterman as well as a four-time Peach Belt Conference Honor Roll Selection. He received a B.S. with honors in exercise in sport science, as well as his masters in sports administration. Baker and his wife, Jessica, are the parents of three children: Caden (9), Brooks (5), and Charlotte (1).