Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2012 - 14

(mga profile
I am a
Golf Coach
Michele Redman,
new U of M women's
golf coach
Interview by Jon Roe
O
n August 10, 2011, Michele Redman
was named the new coach
of the University of Minnesota
women's golf team-a position she accepted
after a 20-year stint on the LPGA Tour that
included two tournament victories and more
than $5 million in career earnings.
I really wanted this job. It was time to
leave the Tour. Twenty years is a long time.
The biggest thing I noticed-and the biggest
concern I had-was that I didn't feel
like practicing as much as I did before. And
that was what kept me competing. I was
willing to work harder on my game than
other players on the Tour.
I wanted to get into coaching because my
college coach had been such an influence
on me. I wanted to give back to young players
the way he had given to me when I was
in college. Sam Carmichael was a legend
in Indiana; he coached the women's golf
team for about 25 years with great success.
Because of the way he worked with me,
I learned how to practice and how to play
(Big Ten medalist in 1987, twice an AllAmerican,
four times All-Big Ten). The
things he taught me have stuck with me,
and I can relay those to young players.
When I first thought about coaching,
I pictured myself going back to Indiana
University. But now this is where I want
to be. I've made the Twin Cities my home
for the last 15 years while I was on Tour,
and this is where I want to stay and coach.
12
MINNESOTAGOLFER Spring 2012
)
" My hope is that any player in Minnesota who
can help our team will want to be a Gopher. "
Since I didn't have any experience as a
college coach, I checked with several other
coaches in the conference to see if they
could recommend people to be my assistant
coach. Several people mentioned
John Cleary, who had been an assistant at
Texas Tech and Northern Illinois before he
agreed to come to Minnesota. I think I can
help the players with how to play a course
and how to practice, but John is very good
at working with the swings of the players.
Last November, I had a chance to play
for the first time on the Legends Tour-
The Legends Tour Open in Florida-and
a lot of the great players were there. Betsy
King, Pat Bradley, Nancy Lopez. Somehow,
I managed to win, shooting 72 and 70 [the
only player in the field under par].
I don't picture doing a lot of that now
that I'm coaching. I was very fortunate to
have my game be in some kind of shape
that I was competitive. But I don't think it
will stay that way as more time goes by.
My hope is that any player in Minnesota
who can help our team will want to be a
Gopher, and we will work hard to recruit
her. I don't see us recruiting a lot of international
players, but that doesn't mean we
won't try to get any player who can make
us a better team.
We're going to work hard to help junior
golf programs, and we're going to have a
very attractive schedule. We're pretty sure
we're going to have an event in 2013 at one
of the best courses in the Twin Cities.
www.mngolf.org
PHOTO BY MATT SEEFELDT
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2012

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