Oct. 22, 2001

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Call it a makeover, call it a face-lift, call it whatever you want. One thing is for sure, the University of Kentucky golf programs have changed since last spring on a number of levels. For two teams that have been playing home tournaments on several area courses, the changes involve a new home. The University Club of Kentucky has opened, and in doing so, has provided a home to UK’s men’s and women’s program.

But the changes go beyond that. The leaders have changed. Following the 2000 campaign, men’s coach Steve Smitha resigned and women’s coach Bettie Lou Evans was promoted to Director of Golf Operations. With two coaching vacancies, Athletics Director Larry Ivy looked for coaches who could spark the teams to success in the competitive Southeastern Conference.

Ivy found that spark for the women’s team in Northridge, Calif. Stephanie Martin, then-coach at Cal State-Northridge, had just coached her team to a second-place finish in the Big Sky Championships, earning her conference Coach of the Year honors. Taking a closer look at Martin, one can see that the desire for success hasn’t always been just in coaching but in all facets of life.

The Camarillo, Calif., native began her golfing days young, playing on her high school men’s golf team since there was no team for women. Martin made a success of herself early on, earning team MVP honors in her junior and senior seasons. During her senior season, she led the team to the Southern California High School Championship.

Martin was awarded a scholarship to play at Oklahoma State under the guidance of Hall of Fame coach Ann Pitts. She made the most of her college days becoming an NCAA Championship qualifier every year and was named All-America during her junior year. Martin encompassed the title student-athlete, earning Academic All-America honors three times in college and was awarded the Edith Cummings award, given to the first-team All-America golfer with the highest grade point average.

Martin attributes much of her success to a solid support system throughout her life.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have a great role models in my life,” Martin said. “Without my parents, I never would have played golf. My father is a wonderful teaching professional, and he has helped me both as a player and as a coach.”

Martin took what she had learned, from both her parents and a solid college career, and pursued professional golf success. In 1994, she left OSU with a bachelor’s degree in education and began playing on the LPGA, Australian, Futures and European LPGA tours. In 1995, she qualified for both the U.S. Open and the British Open.

Her excellent teaching credentials eventually landed her at Northridge, where she coached the Matadors for two seasons. She led the team to five top-five finishes during the 2000-01 season, while two golfers earned all-conference honors in her first year at Northridge. Those credentials caught the eye of Ivy, who couldn’t ignore Martin as the obvious choice.

“When we looked at our strong field of candidates, Stephanie continued to rise to the top for obvious reasons,” Ivy said. “Besides her coaching success at Cal State Northridge, she was an All-American on the course and in the classroom while playing for a legendary coach. That alone exemplifies the type of coach we want teaching our student-athletes. We think she’s one of the top young coaches in collegiate golf, and we’re thrilled she’s come to Lexington.”

The feeling is mutual for Martin, who is more than excited about what’s in store for her team.”The University of Kentucky is a wonderful school with so much athletic tradition,” Martin said. “I think this is a very exciting time for both of the golf programs. I want to find out what our players want to accomplish and make sure that I can do whatever possible to help that happen.”