Printer-Friendly Format   E-mail this article

Melissa Luellen Position: Head Coach Experience: Sixth Year Alma Mater: Tulsa '88

Head coach Melissa Luellen, backed by a venerable roster of talented players, is looking for another championship to add to Arizona State's illustrious and storied golf program. Luellen became the sixth head coach of the program on July 16, 2002. In her fifth season, she hopes to eclipse the stellar effort the Sun Devils put forth in the 2005-2006 season. In recognition of her outstanding coaching efforts, Luellen was named both the 2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year and West Region Coach of the Year by the National Golf Coaches Association. The Sun Devils have turned in three consecutive top-10 national finishes and currently own the nation's second longest streak of consecutive NCAA appearances at 15.

Last season, Luellen's Sun Devils proved again to be a top-tier women's golf program finishing in the top-five in 11 of the 12 tournaments in which they competed, including back-to-back first place finishes in the spring at the 2006 Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge and the 2006 Wildcat Invitational. Marked by the outstanding recruitment of a dynamic freshmen duo and the play of seasoned veterans, the Sun Devils spent the majority of the year ranked among the nations top three women's golf teams. Arizona State also capped off the season with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Luellen came to ASU after spending two seasons as the head women's golf coach at her alma mater, the University of Tulsa (2001-02). Luellen, a fourtime All-American for the Golden Hurricane, succeeded her mother, Dale McNamara, who retired in 2000 following a 26-year career that saw her Tulsa teams win four national championships.

In her two seasons as Tulsa's head coach, Luellen led her team to seven tournament titles including back-to-back Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Central Regional championships in each year. The 2001-02 season saw her team win five tournaments, including the 2002 PING/ASU Championship at Karsten Golf Course, earn a No. 3 national ranking for most of the season and finish 12th at the 2002 NCAA Championships. Luellen was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in each of her two seasons and was the 2002 Central Regional Coach of the Year.

"Melissa was a great college player and a great LPGA Tour player, and she is a great coach," said former ASU head coach Linda Vollstedt, a five-time National Coach of the Year who led her team to six NCAA titles. "Her mother, Dale, is the First Lady of women's college golf, a real pioneer among women coaches. She has passed that championship legacy onto her daughter, Melissa. Dale McNamara was my mentor when I first started coaching, and it will be fun to be Melissa's mentor."

Luellen played collegiate golf at the University of Tulsa (1984-88) where she was a four-time All-American, earning first-team honors as a senior, secondteam honors as a sophomore and junior and honorable-mention accolades as a freshman. She won medalist honors in four tournaments, including just the second event of her collegiate career, and finished in the top 10 in 22 of 41 career events. She capped off a stellar collegiate career by capturing a two-stroke individual victory at the 1988 NCAA Championship and leading the Golden Hurricanes to the national team title.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Tulsa in 1988, Luellen competed on the Futures and the Ladies European Tours in 1988 and 1989 before qualifying for the LPGA Tour in October of 1989. She spent 11 years on the LPGA Tour, winning the 1991 Stratton Mountain LPGA Classic and teaming with Mike Springer to win the 1993 JCPenney Classic. She was also elected to the LPGA Executive Committee in her final two years on the tour and is currently a non-exempt member of the LPGA.

Prior to entering college, she was a three-time Oklahoma state high school champion and American Junior Golf Association All-American (1982-84). In 1983, she was named the AJGA Player of the Year. Luellen was inducted into the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998 and the University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

Luellen and her husband, Mark, were married on Dec. 14, 2002 in Scottsdale. The couple lives in Cave Creek. They have a son, Drake (16), and a daughter, Sydney (13) and one dog, Seamus and one cat, Kitty Moe.