Preseason Interview with Head Women's Golf Coach Lucy Nunn
9/13/2019 8:32:00 AM | Women's Golf
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss women's golf team will head to Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend for the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Collegiate, and SouthernMiss.com sat down with second-year head coach Lucy Nunn to learn more about her, as well as the team as a whole for 2019-20.
Nunn previously served as the associate head coach at Houston and assistant at Kentucky. The Lawton, Okla., native was a standout on the course and in the classroom at Arkansas from 2005-09, making the SEC Honor Roll all four years and earning three, top-10 finishes as a senior. Nunn also played on the LPGA Futures Tour and made nine cuts in 14 events her first postgrad year.
What inspired you to become a golfer?
"My grandpa actually built our municipal golf course back in 1953. My parents took it over when I was nine, so 1995. The TV didn't work, so I would just go out there and putt and chip. We didn't have a driving range, so I'd just go out there and play. I started playing with my dad and his friends. It was originally my parents playing with couples on the weekends, but one time my mom had to sit out, so then I got the call-up and she never got the call again. I kind of replaced her. Going through that, I worked at the golf course inside and outside. I did a little bit of everything and would play by myself. I picked up and just took off running."
How would you summarize your first year as a head coach?
"I joked with everyone that I've talked to that it's just more emails than being an assistant. It's one of those where you're having to wear a lot of different hats and balancing that time management for yourself and your student-athletes. It's an ever-evolving process. I learned a lot my first year, and I'm continuing to learn every day through this group with our new and familiar faces. As long as I'm continuing to grow and get better, and they will do the same. It's a blending process."
As a head coach, how do you get your team ready for each tournament's unique challenges?
"It's one of those where you have to learn the different learning styles of each player. Some need to see visuals, and others you need to be more hands-on with certain shots. It's about finding the right balance and educating. Thankfully with Abbey [Evans] and I, all the courses this year are ones we've either played or coached at. We have a good understanding of what to expect. It's just a lot of one-on-one to figure out the players themselves. I'm oversimplifying it some, but all golfers do the same. Up around the greens are where you have the biggest differences, but you pick your sights off the fairways. It's what happens inside 30 yards."
On having just one senior this season
"If you look at our lineup this week, it's all upperclassmen. Tenley [Moretti] is a new face, but it's a mark of the progress we made last year in buying in as a group and continuing our roles. For Cassidy [Evreniadis] being our only senior, it's hoping to bring out everyone below her. We're all in this as a group, and there's no super hierarchy. It's everyone buying in at the same time."
On having three newcomers, including two freshman from Europe
"For [Maria Toledo Bailey and Ashlie Hobbs], it's gonna be a big learning curve. Being away from home, across the pond, is an adjustment. It's about them finding their footing, getting comfortable and allowing themselves to be good, because they are. Just this new environment is a culture shock, but once they realize that golf is the same, they will be okay. Once they get over that hurdle and get to 100 percent, they will creep in and start knocking on doors for us."
On summers away with the team
"I think for the most part, it's more with the freshmen and keeping them aware of what's coming. There's a lot of paperwork and other hoops they need to jump through, but there were always messages about 'hey this is what I'm doing' and 'this is what's going on.' I saw Emily [Cox] while I was recruiting in South Carolina, but it's about getting everyone back on campus and getting tuned in to everything. The energy we've had with these first few weeks back in school will help."
Nunn previously served as the associate head coach at Houston and assistant at Kentucky. The Lawton, Okla., native was a standout on the course and in the classroom at Arkansas from 2005-09, making the SEC Honor Roll all four years and earning three, top-10 finishes as a senior. Nunn also played on the LPGA Futures Tour and made nine cuts in 14 events her first postgrad year.
What inspired you to become a golfer?
"My grandpa actually built our municipal golf course back in 1953. My parents took it over when I was nine, so 1995. The TV didn't work, so I would just go out there and putt and chip. We didn't have a driving range, so I'd just go out there and play. I started playing with my dad and his friends. It was originally my parents playing with couples on the weekends, but one time my mom had to sit out, so then I got the call-up and she never got the call again. I kind of replaced her. Going through that, I worked at the golf course inside and outside. I did a little bit of everything and would play by myself. I picked up and just took off running."
How would you summarize your first year as a head coach?
"I joked with everyone that I've talked to that it's just more emails than being an assistant. It's one of those where you're having to wear a lot of different hats and balancing that time management for yourself and your student-athletes. It's an ever-evolving process. I learned a lot my first year, and I'm continuing to learn every day through this group with our new and familiar faces. As long as I'm continuing to grow and get better, and they will do the same. It's a blending process."
As a head coach, how do you get your team ready for each tournament's unique challenges?
"It's one of those where you have to learn the different learning styles of each player. Some need to see visuals, and others you need to be more hands-on with certain shots. It's about finding the right balance and educating. Thankfully with Abbey [Evans] and I, all the courses this year are ones we've either played or coached at. We have a good understanding of what to expect. It's just a lot of one-on-one to figure out the players themselves. I'm oversimplifying it some, but all golfers do the same. Up around the greens are where you have the biggest differences, but you pick your sights off the fairways. It's what happens inside 30 yards."
On having just one senior this season
"If you look at our lineup this week, it's all upperclassmen. Tenley [Moretti] is a new face, but it's a mark of the progress we made last year in buying in as a group and continuing our roles. For Cassidy [Evreniadis] being our only senior, it's hoping to bring out everyone below her. We're all in this as a group, and there's no super hierarchy. It's everyone buying in at the same time."
On having three newcomers, including two freshman from Europe
"For [Maria Toledo Bailey and Ashlie Hobbs], it's gonna be a big learning curve. Being away from home, across the pond, is an adjustment. It's about them finding their footing, getting comfortable and allowing themselves to be good, because they are. Just this new environment is a culture shock, but once they realize that golf is the same, they will be okay. Once they get over that hurdle and get to 100 percent, they will creep in and start knocking on doors for us."
On summers away with the team
"I think for the most part, it's more with the freshmen and keeping them aware of what's coming. There's a lot of paperwork and other hoops they need to jump through, but there were always messages about 'hey this is what I'm doing' and 'this is what's going on.' I saw Emily [Cox] while I was recruiting in South Carolina, but it's about getting everyone back on campus and getting tuned in to everything. The energy we've had with these first few weeks back in school will help."
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