University of North Carolina Athletics
Aimee Neff The Next Women's Golf Coach At Carolina
June 25, 2021 | Women's Golf
CHAPEL HILL – Aimee Neff, head coach the past three seasons at Florida Atlantic University and a former associate head coach at UNC, is the next head coach of the University of North Carolina women's golf program.
Neff becomes just the fourth head coach in Carolina women's golf history, joining Dot Gunnells (1974-93), Sally Austin (1993-2009) and Jan Mann (2009-21).
"Aimee has done an outstanding job in three seasons as head coach at FAU," says Tar Heel Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. "Her team showed dramatic improvement and demonstrated the value she places on academic achievement as well as competitive success. She made a tremendous impression on Carolina Athletics and the golf program when she was our associate head coach, and we are excited about her return to Carolina."
Neff helped the Owls improve their Golfweek ranking from No. 189 when she was named head coach prior to the 2018-19 season to No. 94 in the nation this past season. She coached Justine Fournand, who won Conference USA Freshman-of-the-Year and Player-of-the-Year honors over the past two seasons. In her three seasons in Boca Raton, FAU won two team tournaments and four individual events and improved its scoring average by more than 12 strokes per round.
This spring, FAU shot the fourth- and fifth-best 54-hole totals in school history, and established school records for the third consecutive season in par 3, par 4 and par 5 scoring and overall stroke average. Fournand won twice and qualified for an NCAA regional.
"Returning to Carolina as its head coach is an honor," says Neff. "I am incredibly grateful to Bubba Cunningham for the opportunity to work at my dream job. I'd also like to thank Brian White, the Director of Athletics at Florida Atlantic University, for his support over the last three years.
"UNC is a special place because of its exceptional student-athletes and the men and women who work there and those who have been part of the program in the past. It truly is a community of people who want to be excellent in what they do. I am eager to get to work and build off the program's previous successes. UNC has the total package of academic prowess, athletic greatness, being a member of the ACC, committed alumni, geographic location and outstanding facilities."
Prior to becoming the head coach at FAU, Neff served as the associate head coach at Carolina in 2017-18. The Tar Heels won the Briar's Creek Invitational with the second-lowest 54-hole score in Carolina history and played in the NCAA TPC Harding Park Regional in San Francisco. Kelly Whaley set the school single-season stroke average record and became the first Tar Heel to ever shoot three rounds in the 60s in a tournament, when she set the 54-hole UNC record at 12-under 204. Freshman Ava Bergner also set the Tar Heels' 18-hole scoring record with a 6-under 66.
Neff was an assistant for three seasons at her alma mater, Michigan State, from 2013-16 and for one season at Vanderbilt in 2016-17. She helped coach Vanderbilt's Alexandra Fransworth, who competed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans were Big Ten Champions in 2014, played in two NCAA regionals and advanced to the 2014 NCAA Championship. She helped coach Allyssa Ferrell, who finished in the top 10 at the 2014 NCAA Championship, and Sarah Burnham, who played in the 2016 NCAA Championship and was an honorable mention All-America.
Neff's student-athletes have succeeded academically at each of her four coaching stops, earning 26 All-America Scholar Awards. Florida Atlantic's players compiled the sixth-highest grade point averages in Division I last season.
A native of Carmel, Ind., Neff attended Michigan State from 2007-11 and became the third MSU women's golfer to earn All-Big Ten honors four times. She had 13 top-10 finishes, led the Spartans to the Big Ten championship as a senior and won the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor in 2011. She was an All-America Scholar and member of the Academic All-Big Ten team three times.
Neff won the Illinois Women's Open in 2008 and 2009 and the Indiana Women's Open in 2009 and 2010. She played in the 2012 U.S. Open in Kohler, Wis., and on the Symetra Tour from 2011-14, competing in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
She holds Titleist Performance Institute Certification in Levels I and II and is certified in AimPoint Express and Trackman University.
Neff becomes just the fourth head coach in Carolina women's golf history, joining Dot Gunnells (1974-93), Sally Austin (1993-2009) and Jan Mann (2009-21).
"Aimee has done an outstanding job in three seasons as head coach at FAU," says Tar Heel Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. "Her team showed dramatic improvement and demonstrated the value she places on academic achievement as well as competitive success. She made a tremendous impression on Carolina Athletics and the golf program when she was our associate head coach, and we are excited about her return to Carolina."
Neff helped the Owls improve their Golfweek ranking from No. 189 when she was named head coach prior to the 2018-19 season to No. 94 in the nation this past season. She coached Justine Fournand, who won Conference USA Freshman-of-the-Year and Player-of-the-Year honors over the past two seasons. In her three seasons in Boca Raton, FAU won two team tournaments and four individual events and improved its scoring average by more than 12 strokes per round.
This spring, FAU shot the fourth- and fifth-best 54-hole totals in school history, and established school records for the third consecutive season in par 3, par 4 and par 5 scoring and overall stroke average. Fournand won twice and qualified for an NCAA regional.
"Returning to Carolina as its head coach is an honor," says Neff. "I am incredibly grateful to Bubba Cunningham for the opportunity to work at my dream job. I'd also like to thank Brian White, the Director of Athletics at Florida Atlantic University, for his support over the last three years.
"UNC is a special place because of its exceptional student-athletes and the men and women who work there and those who have been part of the program in the past. It truly is a community of people who want to be excellent in what they do. I am eager to get to work and build off the program's previous successes. UNC has the total package of academic prowess, athletic greatness, being a member of the ACC, committed alumni, geographic location and outstanding facilities."
Prior to becoming the head coach at FAU, Neff served as the associate head coach at Carolina in 2017-18. The Tar Heels won the Briar's Creek Invitational with the second-lowest 54-hole score in Carolina history and played in the NCAA TPC Harding Park Regional in San Francisco. Kelly Whaley set the school single-season stroke average record and became the first Tar Heel to ever shoot three rounds in the 60s in a tournament, when she set the 54-hole UNC record at 12-under 204. Freshman Ava Bergner also set the Tar Heels' 18-hole scoring record with a 6-under 66.
Neff was an assistant for three seasons at her alma mater, Michigan State, from 2013-16 and for one season at Vanderbilt in 2016-17. She helped coach Vanderbilt's Alexandra Fransworth, who competed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The Spartans were Big Ten Champions in 2014, played in two NCAA regionals and advanced to the 2014 NCAA Championship. She helped coach Allyssa Ferrell, who finished in the top 10 at the 2014 NCAA Championship, and Sarah Burnham, who played in the 2016 NCAA Championship and was an honorable mention All-America.
Neff's student-athletes have succeeded academically at each of her four coaching stops, earning 26 All-America Scholar Awards. Florida Atlantic's players compiled the sixth-highest grade point averages in Division I last season.
A native of Carmel, Ind., Neff attended Michigan State from 2007-11 and became the third MSU women's golfer to earn All-Big Ten honors four times. She had 13 top-10 finishes, led the Spartans to the Big Ten championship as a senior and won the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor in 2011. She was an All-America Scholar and member of the Academic All-Big Ten team three times.
Neff won the Illinois Women's Open in 2008 and 2009 and the Indiana Women's Open in 2009 and 2010. She played in the 2012 U.S. Open in Kohler, Wis., and on the Symetra Tour from 2011-14, competing in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
She holds Titleist Performance Institute Certification in Levels I and II and is certified in AimPoint Express and Trackman University.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
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