NGCA Hall Of Fame Taps Gaston
November 22, 2010 | Women's Golf
Nov. 22, 2010
Andrea Gaston, now in her 15th year as USC's head women's golf coach with a pair of NCAA titles to her credit as well as a host of other top 10 finishes, will be inducted into the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 7, the NGCA announced Monday (Nov. 22).
The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gaston becomes the 43rd member of the Coaches Hall of Fame. Also being inducted is Stephanie Neil Harner, a former collegiate great at Wake Forest.
"I am deeply honored to be a part of the NGCA Hall of Fame," Gaston said. "This award is a tribute to all the talented young women I have had the privilege of coaching the past 14 ½ years."
One of the finest coaches in the country, Gaston's coaching resume features two NCAA Championships teams, three NCAA individual champions, three PING NGCA Players of the Year while building the Trojans into one of the NCAA's powerhouse programs.
After guiding USC to its first-ever NCAA crown in 2003 with a wire-to-wire 15-shot victory, Gaston directed the 2008 team to its second championship, also winning it in wire-to-wire fashion. USC won its final four events en route to the 2008 title, cementing Gaston's place as one of the NCAA's premier coaches. Validating that status, she received her first SkyCaddie NGCA National Coach of the Year honor in 2008 to compliment similar awards as 2008 NCAA West Regional Coach of the Year and 2008 Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
In 2010, USC was literally inches away from a third national title, finishing second at the NCAA Championships by one stroke. Troy won four titles in 2010, including at the NCAA Central Region, its fourth regional title in five years.
Gaston was a champion as a player, and has solidified the same standing as a coach, joining a small group of coaches who enjoy the same distinction. It was just a matter of time until the two-time California State Amateur champion (1993-94) transferred her playing success at the highest level of amateur golf to blazing achievements at the collegiate coaching ranks. Gaston was one of the top players on the San Jose State University women's golf team in the late 1970s. Her best individual finish was a third-place showing at the University of New Mexico's Tucker Invitational, but her biggest collegiate highlight was finishing tenth individually at the NCAA Championships. At that time, she competed with many of the LPGA Tour's all-time greats, including Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan, Beth Daniel and Betsy King. Gaston also qualified to play in the 1977 U.S. Women's Open.
Gaston, after a 14-year hiatus to pursue a business career, came back to competitive golf in 1992. She was a 1993 USGA Women's Mid-Amateur semifinalist, a top qualifier for the 1994 U.S. Women's Open along with the `93 and `94 Women's U.S. Amateurs, and had back-to-back victories in the 1994 Los Angeles and Long Beach City Championships. To top that off, she even went toe-to-toe with former USC and LPGA standout Jill McGill in the 1994 Colorado Broadmoor Invitational, losing to her in a 36-hole championship match.
She then won her two consecutive State Amateur championships (becoming one of the top ten amateurs in America in less than two years). At that point, Gaston decided to give the professional ranks one more shot. But the opportunity to coach at USC came to Gaston while she was competing on the Futures Tour in 1996. Even while at San Jose State, USC had always beckoned to her. The chance to be a part of the Trojan Family was too good for her to pass up.
Gaston obviously made the right decision. While her playing era has come and gone, the Gaston coaching era is in full swing. And with the players that have come through central Los Angeles lately, Gaston is creating a recruiting legacy that will forever be remembered as the start of a golden era in Women of Troy golf. First, there was 1998 NCAA champion and Collegiate Player of the Year Jennifer Rosales, who won the title in only her sixth collegiate tournament. Next, in 2000 there was two-time All-American selection Candie Kung, who after departing USC won three times on tour in 2003, finishing sixth on the LPGA tour money list. In 2003, she coached another NCAA individual champion--Swedish sensation Mikaela Parmlid, who also took home that year's Honda Award for women's golf. In 2006, she helped guide Irene Cho to possibly the greatest individual season in Women of Troy golf history while her teammate, Dewi Claire Schreefel, came away with Troy's third NCAA individual championship. Both were nominated for the Honda Award with Cho, who won four individual titles on the season, taking home the award. In 2007, Troy finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and Paola Moreno tied for second to earn All-American first team honors. The 2008 season set a host of more firsts. The squad featured five All-American golfers for the first time in program history. The 2009 squad boasted NGCA Freshman of the Year Jennifer Song, who joined Lizette Salas as All-American first teamers. Belen Mozo also was an All-American second teamer. In 2010, Song earned All-American first team honors for the second year in a row (becoming USC's first two-time first teamer since Kung in 2001 and 2002), was the 2010 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year and was a Honda Sports Award finalist.
Gaston is also an active participant in the collegiate golf coaching community as a member of the National Golf Coaches Association, where she served the past three years on the Awards Committee. Gaston also served on the NCAA Certification Committee and was appointed to the subcommittee focusing on equity, welfare and sporting conduct. She also served on the Collegiate Golf Foundation Coaches Council, the National Tour Committee and the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings Committee.
Players Mentioned
