Lindsay Hulwick was selected in February as the head coach of the women’s golf program at DU. With her, she brings over a decade of golf experience.
Hulwick, a Colorado native, attended and golfed at Heritage High School in Littleton. She studied finance at Tulane University, where she played with their golf program from 2001-2005. In 2002 Hulwick made the All-Conference USA Freshman team in addition to being selected for the All-Conference USA in her final three seasons.
Her philosophy on coaching revolves around preparing her players for life beyond their time at student athletes.
“I want to create an environment that challenges my players and also is very optimistic,” said Hulwick. “We have fun, and we’re positive. I challenge them to think outside the box or to feel uncomfortable so they learn and grow and are ready for the real world, [whether it’s] playing professionally or finding a job in the business world.”
Hulwick also added that she is “preparing them for the unexpected.”
Prior to her selection as head coach for the Pioneers, Hulwick spent June 2012 through early 2013 as the assistant coach at the University of Georgia. Hulwick previously spent seven years at DU as assistant coach for four years and associate head coach for three.
Hulwick said the biggest difference in her new role is that she gets to make more decisions, adding, “It’s all up to me now.”
Hulwick says that her transition into the role was simple, noting that she had very little time to practice with the women before their first competition in her new leading role.
“I feel like it was a pretty easy transition, so I don’t really know if there were a lot of challenges. I knew the girls well, and recruited them and had already coached them,” said Hulwick.
Her first day on the job as head coach was a tournament in Florida.
The Pioneers also recently gained their 10th consecutive conference title and first WAC honor under Hulwick.
Hulwick says that the transition out of the WAC and into the Summit League will have little impact on the women’s golf program.
Hulwick also gave credit to the players for the victory over San Jose State and other teams last week.
“They care so much about DU and the women’s golf program. We all wanted to win, of course,” said Hulwick.
“They played with such heart and pride in the university and our golf program that we had a player shoot her best round all year, had our freshman step up for two rounds and our junior play two solid rounds to win by six.”
Outside of her role as a coach, Hulwick is an LPGA golf instructor and enjoys playing rounds with her family, friends and new fiancé.
She also received a master’s degree in sports and performance psychology from DU in 2012.
The women’s team will compete May 9-11 in the NCAA Women’s West Regional Competition at Stanford University. The team will enter the competition as the 11th seed.
“We don’t have a lot of pressure. We can just go, play and enjoy the tournament,” said Hulwick.
“If we play to our potential, I think we have a great chance.”
