JulieHovland

Julie Hovland, former Illinois women’s golf assistant coach, was hired as a University of Kentucky women’s golf assistant coach on Friday, Aug. 1. She enters her second season in Lexington in 2026-27.

Her first season was nothing short of a success story, as she and the coaching staff helped guide Kentucky to its second NCAA Championship appearance since the turn of the century in 2026.

Following a regular season that included four sophomores and one junior for most of the competition schedule, the coaching staff made a lineup change just before NCAA Regionals that would end up being just what the doctor ordered. But it would take all 54 holes for the team to realize it. The Wildcats came into the final round of the NCAA Regional at Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Florida, in seventh place, 10 shots back of the team occupying fifth place (also the cut line). Then, on their very first hole, the Cats recorded two bogeys and a double, and things didn’t look so optimistic. But from that point on, the new lineup – and still a young lineup – chipped away hole after hole to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship in dramatic and Golden Tempo-inspired fashion. Then, there in Carlsbad, California, with the same lineup that just made history at the NCAA Regional and who had never competed at the NCAA Championship, the team finished two spots better than its seed, earning T23 out of 30 at college women’s golf’s pinnacle event of the season.

Prior to arriving in the Bluegrass, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois (2023-24, 2024-25). In her most recent season in Champaign, she helped guide the Fighting Illini to a strong spring, which included two runner-up finishes at the Spring Break Shootout and the Florida State Match Up, followed by winning the Boilermaker Spring Classic. The Fighting Illini also finished in third place at the 2025 Big Ten Championship at the Havre de Grace, Maryland, in April.

Before that, she spent one season as a graduate assistant at her alma mater South Alabama (2022-23).  Hovland helped lead the Jaguars to one tournament victory to go along with five top-five finishes as a team, while she also coached two individual medalists on the season.

Hovland was a five-year letterwinner at South Alabama from 2018-22, ending her collegiate career as one of the most decorated players in program history. She became the first Jaguar to be named Sun Belt Conference Women’s Golfer of the Year in 2021, earning two medalist honors during the season to go along with five top-five finishes. Hovland also became the first golfer to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Regional Championship in program history. During her senior season, Hovland set program records for lowest 54-hole tournament score (-12, 204), birdies in a tournament (19) and matched a program record by firing a 66 at the USA Intercollegiate.

A native of Bergen, Norway, Hovland attended WANG Toppidrett Oslo and was a member at Oslo Golf Club. She helped the club win junior Norwegian titles in 2016 and 2017, and a senior title in 2016.