December 9, 2024 • by Scoreboard
Caroline O’Connor (above, far left), the Head Women’s Golf Coach at Stanford for 17 years, and Kim Kincer (second from left), former Head Women’s Golf Coach at Methodist University, were inducted into the Women's Golf Coaches of America (WGCA) Coaches Hall of Fame on Monday evening in Las Vegas, becoming its 56th and 57th members. Former Duke and Florida State standouts, Leona Maguire (middle) and Caroline Westrup (second from right), were the past collegiate players honored in the Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Coach Kincer won five National Championships in five years at the helm of the Methodist University women’s golf team from 1998-2002. The 2001 WGCA National Coach of the Year helped lead the Monarchs to nine regular-season victories during.
Under her guidance, Methodist student-athletes captured two individual NCAA titles and earned 18 WGCA All-American honors, including 12 First-Team accolades. Coach Kincer worked with four NCAA Division III Players of the Year and was named WGCA Regional Coach of the Year three times.
As a member of the NCAA Advisory and NCAA Selection Committees she was instrumental in separating the combined Division II and Division III NCAA Championships, and after winning two combined titles the Monarchs went on to win the first three Division III NCAA Championships in women’s golf history.
During her long spell as the head women’s golf coach at Stanford University, Caroline O’Connor (above) led the Cardinal to an NCAA Regional appearance every single year with nine top five finishes and one Regional Championship win. Stanford reached the NCAA Championships 15 times and tallied four top five finishes, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2000.
In addition, Stanford captured 13 tournament titles under O’Connor’s leadership, including the 1999 Pac-10 Conference Championship, which was the first conference championship in program history. Her student-athletes earned 17 WGCA All-American honors and 33 WGCA All-American Scholar honors. The 2001 WGCA West Region Coach of the Year was also a member of the NCAA Committee for five years.
Leona Maguire, the European Solheim Cup star who won 10 individual titles for Duke in a glittering four-year college career, and Caroline Westrup, the three-time WGCA All-American who won five tournaments in her time at Florida State, were also inducted into the WGCA Hall of Fame.
In the final presentation of the evening, Florida State Head Coach Amy Bond was presented with the Gladys Palmer Meritorious Service Award for her philanthropic work and her contribution as a long-serving board member of the WGCA.