University of South Alabama Women's Golf

Luther takes over the Jaguar program after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma; he also brings experience as a head coach, a club professional, and as a player on both the collegiate and professional levels. Matts professional experience and personal intangibles paved the way for him to take on the leadership role as our head coach, stated Erdmann.  He has demonstrated success as a coach, a recruiter and a teacher of the game.  His strong energy and desire to develop student-athletes on and off the course makes us look forward to the future and the progression of the program. Im very excited about this opportunity, Luther said.  The athletic department is absolutely moving in the right direction, and the mens team has had some success.  I think the womens program is in just as good if not a better position to have a lot of long-term success. In two seasons with the Sooners, Luther helped the team to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships the programs best-ever result at the event after claiming the Big XII championship in 2014 as well as a top-10 finish at the NCAA San Antonio Regional this spring.  Three OU student-athletes earned honorable mention All-America distinction his first season with the team, while a total of four have picked up all-league honors including the 2014 Freshman of the Year. Luther was the head mens and womens coach at St. Thomas (Texas) the previous two years.  Taking over a program that had been dormant for 25 years, he guided the Celt mens squad to two titles including the Red River Athletic Conference championship as UST would go on to place 12th at the NAIA national championship.  Three players from the womens squad would earn top-five finishes individually that spring as well. While a volunteer at Houston Baptist during the 2010-11 campaign, Luther helped the Huskies womens team claim the Great West Conference title with a wire-to-wire victory as four of the teams five players finished among the top eight individually.  Following the season, seven members of the squad received first- or second-team all-conference accolades with the program having both the leagues player and newcomer of the year. Prior to entering the collegiate ranks, Luther served as the assistant golf professional at The Woodlands Country Club from 2006-08 and the Royal Oaks Country Club from 2008-11. Ive seen college golf at every level, from the very top to the bottom where you are just trying to field a team.  Ive had the opportunity to see how the best players in the country look week to week, Luther commented.  Ive been in charge and served as an assistant, so Ive seen every side of the coin.  Doing both will definitely have a positive effect on what I will do at South Alabama. He was a two-year letterwinner at St. Edwards (Texas), serving as team captain his senior year as the Hilltoppers achieved a top-20 ranking in the NCAA Division II poll.  Luther earned his business administration degree from the school in 2004, going on to compete in numerous tournaments professionally in the Southern Texas Section of the PGA of America. Luther is a member of the Professional Golfers Association of America and is also a Titleist Performance Institute certified golf fitness instructor. He takes over a program that earned its lone Sun Belt Conference title in 1997.  Last season the Jaguars finished sixth at the league championship. My goal as a coach is to make players better every day, everything else takes care of itself, explained Luther.  I think we can win the Sun Belt Conference, though I dont know how quickly we can do it.  Ive started a program from scratch where we set out to make our players better every day, and two years later we won our conference.  If I can make players better than we are going to be really successful; thats the way I approach things.  

Marcelo Huarte was named the head coach of the women's golf program on May 3, 2023 and will enter his third season at the helm at the start of the 2025-26 season. Year two under the direction of Huarte, saw South Alabama post the largest turnaround in the nation. After South finished with just a 1-127 record in 2023-24, the Jags posted a 93-29-1 record in 2024-2, and improved their national ranking by 171 spots from 256 a year ago to 85th this season. South Alabama finished inside the Top 5 in nine of 10 events, including four inside the Top 3. The Jaguars also posted their lowest scoring average in program history – 293.5 strokes per round – and had an individual strokes per round of 73.38; a 33.6 stroke improvement from the previous year. South Alabama's turnaround in 2024-25 was led by a pair of freshman: Katharina and Mercedes Aldana. For her play, Schroll was named both the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and a first-team all-Sun Belt selection. With the individual honor, Schroll became just the second South Alabama women’s golfer to be named the SBC Freshman of the Year, joining Siti Shaari (2018). Schroll averaged 72.27 strokes per round – a freshman record – and led the team with 91 birdies, while recording four sub-70 rounds this season, including three rounds of 68, which ranked as the 10th lowest single round in program history. She was twice named Sun Belt Conference Golfer of the Week during the season, and she was named the South Alabama Athletic Department’s Freshman of the Year at the annual Pete Tolbert Night of Champions. Schroll finished the season with 14 rounds at par or under, including 12 under par, which now rank third all-time at South Alabama, and finished inside the Top 10 in eight of her 10 events.  Aldana, who earned second-team, all-league honors, averaged 73.30 strokes per round – the second lowest average by a freshman at South in program history. Aldana recorded 63 birdies and an eagle during the season, while posting 11 rounds at par or under, including five under par. She also finished inside the Top 20 in seven of her 10 events and also posted a pair of Top 5 finishes. South Alabama also starred in the classroom during the 2024-25 academic year as the group posted a 3.837 GPA during the spring, the highest team cumulative GPA in program history.  Huarte arrived in Mobile after serving as the assistant women’s golf coach at Miami (Fla.) where he assisted with Sara Byrne, helping her to a 1.47-stroke average improvement and career-best six top-25 finishes, four top-15 finishes, and helped her earn an individual invitation into the NCAA Regional Championship. Prior to his time at Miami, Huarte served as the head men’s and women’s golf coach at Lynn University in 2021-22. During his dual role, he led the women to the final eight at the national championship and final GolfStat ranking of second, holding the number one ranking for 32 weeks. He was named the 2022 South Region Coach of the Year while also coaching a pair of All-Americans. His first role as a head coach came as the women’s head coach at Lynn in 2018 before taking over the dual role. He led the team to four tournament titles, and the team finished as the national runner-up by one stroke in a tiebreaker. That same year, he helped coach Helen Kreuzer to the individual NCAA Championship. Huarte was named the Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year and South Region Coach of the Year while coaching three All-Americans. In his first two seasons, Huarte coached five All-Americans and a pair of top-130 golfers in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. His 2018-19 team finished with the third-highest GPA among all Division II programs in the country. Huarte broke into the collegiate ranks as an assistant coach at Barry (Fla.) where he assisted the men’s program to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships and a second-place finish in stroke play. The women finished fifth at the NCAA Championships that same year, and Tilda Larson was named the WGCA Division II National Player of the Year. He also helped lead the women to the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship, while Charlotte Putts was named the WGCA Freshman of the Year. He also assisted the men who earned medalist honors in the NCAA Stroke Play portion of the NCAA Championships. He also played in various professional golf events including the European Tour Qualifying Tournament and Latin America Tour Qualifying Tournament.