Head Coach Sherri McDonald enters her ninth season at the helm for the Monmouth University women's golf team. Shooting for their first NCAA berth in school history, the Hawks will look to Coach McDonald's experience and guidance throughout the season to lead them to the NEC Championship title.
MU finished in eighth place at the NEC Championships last season, with then senior Brigid Cahill finishing her career with an 8th place tie. Under McDonald's tutelage, the Hawks have seen twelve All-NEC honorees over the past eight seasons.
The Hawks finished the 2007-08 season in sixth place at the NEC Championship Tournament. Finishing in a seventh place tie, Rylee Plitz earned her fourth straight All-NEC honor at the NEC finals, making her the program’s first four-time all honoree. In the 2006-07 season, lead by junior Rylee Plitz, the Hawks claimed sixth place overall at the NEC Championships, placing two players on the all-conference team. Plitz, the Hawks' leader in stroke average, finished as the league's runner-up, earning her third All-NEC accolade. Joining Plitz on the all-conference squad was sophomore Cahill, whose ninth place finish earned her her first career honor.
In 2006, the Blue and White finished in third place at the annual Northeast Conference Championships for a second straight season, their best finish since 1999, while Coach McDonald earned back-to-back NEC Coach of the Year honors. The Hawks posted two players in All-NEC recognition, as senior Rae Johnson claimed second place overall and sophomore Plitz earned ninth place.
The 2004-05 squad finished third at the NEC Championships, marking only the second time Monmouth had cracked the top-three in championship play. The team was led by Plitz and Johnson who both placed in the top-ten individually to earn all-league honors.
During the 2004 campaign, the Blue and White claimed a fifth place finish at the Northeast Conference championships, with three performers earning individual spots in the top-20.
In 2003, McDonald helped lead the Blue and White to its second-best finish in the program's short history at the Northeast Conference Championships. Guided by three-time All-NEC performer, Stephanie Coughlin, the Hawks had all five competitors finish in the top-25 in the two-day competition.
In her first year at the head of the Monmouth women’s golf program, McDonald guided the Hawks to a 5-3 dual meet record and a sixth-place finish at the Northeast Conference Championships, behind Coughlin's second All-NEC finish.
McDonald, an avid golfer in her own right, was a four-year letterwinner at Penn State University in State College, Pa. She brings a wealth of playing, teaching and coaching experience to West Long Branch. Upon graduation from Penn State, the All-Big Ten performer took the position of Assistant Women’s Golf Coach at the State University, while working as an assistant golf professional.
In the fall of 2008, McDonald participated in the Golf Channel's hit reality golf series, Big Break X - Michigan. McDonald completed the show's 10th season with a partner, NEC rival LIU head coach, Michael Michaelis, against several other male/female duos fighting for a PGA Tour exemption for the male winner and LPGA Tour exemption for the female winner. The duo fell short of winning the show, but was deemed a show favorite by fans of the series.
In 1996, McDonald accepted the head coach position at Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, Mass. While at Mount Holyoke, McDonald sat on the NCAA Division II and III National Championship Selection Committee and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship Committee. In the fall of 1999, McDonald moved on to the University of Hartford as the head women’s coach, while maintaining her playing status on the Futures Professional Golf Tour.
For the last four year, McDonald She has served as the Director of Instruction at Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Lakewood, N.J. McDonald also spent six years as a pro player on the Futures Tour, while also teaching at the Total Golf School in Tinton Falls, N.J.
