Assistant Coach Katy Heher Brings Fresh Ideas in Her First Season
Oct. 21, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas women’s golf team will conclude the fall season when they travel to South Carolina to compete in the Palmetto Intercollegiate Oct. 23-24. This tournament will also be the conclusion of assistant coach Katy Heher’s first season as a Jayhawk. Heher said a lot of the fall season was based on getting to know the golfers.
“Coming in as a new person, this first semester has been a lot of getting to know each other,” Coach Heher said. “I’ve just been getting to know the different personalities and how everybody reacts to different things on the course.”
Head Coach Erin O’Neil has been very pleased with how well Heher has fit in with the team. She says Heher has been a great asset with her experience and fresh take on ideas.
“I think Katy (Heher) fits in very well with our team,” Coach O’Neil said. “She’s helped a lot with the girls’ swings and I know they have benefited from that greatly. She brings a lot of new ideas to practice and gave us a fresh take on ideas which has been very beneficial as well. I know the girls feel comfortable with her and I’m very glad that she’s here.”
Instruction is one of the main strengths that Heher has, especially on the short game. She spent the last two years as an instructor/coach at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Prior to that, Heher was an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina from 2007-09. Coming from South Carolina, Heher brings with her some contacts that will help the Jayhawks tremendously with recruiting.
“Katy’s done a tremendous job of recruiting and communicating with them to get them to check out Kansas,” Coach O’Neil said. “This is probably some of the best recruiting that we’ve had in awhile just from her contacts from the academy she was at.”
Coach O’Neil mentioned last week that sophomore Meghan Potee has been developing her swing and working on her short game. Her hard work has paid off with the help of Heher.
“I’ve had experience in instruction before so I’ve helped Meghan (Potee) and Audrey (Yowell) a little bit just spending time getting their swing back on track. We haven’t made huge changes but just changing a little at a time.”
The Jayhawks hope to continue to build on the momentum from the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Oklahoma. With Heher’s experience of Oak Point Golf Course (par-72/5,907 yards), Kansas should be in good shape to finish up the fall season on a high note.
“I think we’re going to do good this week in South Carolina,” Coach Heher said. “We played well last week and it was probably one of our most consistent tournaments so I’m looking forward to this week. It’s a course that I’m familiar with because I’ve played in college and then coached at Coastal Carolina so we played it six years in a row.”
Head coach O’Neil is confident in her team this week as well. She knows the Jayhawks have the ability to play their best rounds next week and says Heher will give them the knowledge they need to succeed.
“I want us to continue to build on the momentum that we saw at Oklahoma,” Coach O’Neil said. “I think that tournament was the best we’ve been this fall mentally just as far as being tough and making better decisions. We’ve been working hard and it was kind of neat to see that work start to pay off. We had three days where we shot around 300 which is a good sign when you’re starting to shoot consistent scores.
“I think the course at Charleston is a good one for us; it sets up well for us. Three of the girls played there last year so they’re familiar with that too so hopefully they’ll be comfortable with it. I think it will be good for the girls to have Coach Heher’s knowledge of the course while we’re there.”
The Kansas lineup will consist of senior Katy Nugent, junior Audrey Yowell, sophomores Thanuttra Boonraksasat and Meghan Potee and freshman Nadia Luttner. The Jayhawks will face a 17-team field including: Bucknell, Campbell, Charleston Southern, The Citadel, host school College of Charleston, East Tennesee State, Elon, Illinois State, Jacksonville State, Kansas State, Maryland, Morehead State, Richmond, South Dakota State, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina and William & Mary.
Live stats will be available on www.golfstat.com.
