Susan Holt Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: Ohio State '88

Susan Holt was introduced as head coach of the University of Notre Dame women's golf program in August of 2006. She became the second full-time head coach in the history of the Fighting Irish program and the fourth overall since women's golf became a varsity sport in 1988-89.

In her third season, she led the Irish back to the NCAA Central Regional for the second consecutive year, marking just the second time in program history that Notre Dame has qualified for NCAA play in back-to-back seasons. She did so with the Irish playing a challenging slate of tournaments that included the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif. and the Bryan National Collegiate in Greensboro, N.C. The Irish were ranked inside the Golfstat top-25 for parts of the season for the second consecutive year and they captured the Heather Farr Memorial Tournament, finishing with a program low score of 858 (-6), besting the previous mark by 12 strokes. The Irish combined to post a 303.39 stroke average for the season, a mark bested only by last season's 300.47 mark. The Irish finished in the top-five in four of the 11 tournaments on the season and registered 16 top-15 individual showings.

Holt helped field a team that earned four All-BIG EAST accolades. The four all-league members tied a program record, which had also been achieved the previous two seasons under Holt. The Irish also combined to post three of the five lowest rounds in school history and four of the top-eight tournament totals in program history. Becca Huffer claimed BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors, while Lisa Maunu claimed medalist honors at the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament, Notre Dame's second medalist in as many years at the event.

Two seasons ago, in Holt's second season at the helm of the program, the Fighting Irish won the 2008 BIG EAST title. Holt was named the conference's coach of the year after putting together what turned out to be a record-breaking campaign in many ways for Notre Dame. The Irish produced a school-record 300.47 stroke average and won a program-best five tournaments, including the BIG EAST championship. Three straight wins to open the season signified another program milestone for the Irish. Three golfers combined to win four tournaments on the season and the year was capped with a trip to the NCAA Central Regional in Austin, Texas.

In 2008, So-Hyun Park became the program's first All-America honoree as she copped honorable mention All-America accolades from the National Golf Coaches Association and Golfweek magazine. Park won two tournaments on the year and posted a 73.63 stroke average, which eclipsed the program's old standard. The 2007-08 season commenced with a win at the Cougar Classic in Hanahan, S.C. Junior Lisa Maunu earned medalist honors by firing a school-record three-round total of 210 (-6). Maunu's first-round six-under par 66 also represented a program record. Notre Dame followed that with a victory at the Napa River Grill Cardinal Cup in Simpsonville, Ky. Park made it a second clean sweep for the Fighting Irish as she claimed the victory. The Irish made it three in a row with a triumph at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich. A fourth team victory was achieved in the spring at the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz. For the third time on the year, Notre Dame swept the hardware as Park captured the individual title. Holt and the Irish then delivered on one of the team's goals for the year by winning the BIG EAST title by nine shots over two-time defending conference champion Louisville in Batavia, Ohio. Annie Brophy became the first Notre Dame golfer to win the BIG EAST title outright. Brophy and three of her teammates garnered all-conference accolades.

In all, the Irish finished in the top-five in nine of the 11 tournaments on the season and registered 20 top-10 individual showings. Notre Dame also reached as high as 12th in the Golfstat rankings during the year. That was the highest ranking ever for the Irish, who had two freshmen and two sophomores in the five-person scoring lineup all season long. Notre Dame garnered the ninth seed in the NCAA Central Regional before finishing 16th.

Holt's presence at the wheel of the Fighting Irish program has also produced big dividends on the recruiting trail. Notre Dame brought in the top recruiting class in program history for the 2007-08 season. Notre Dame's Class of 2011 was comprised of Katie Conway and So-Hyun Park, who were both ranked in the top 25 nationally. Another stellar class that featured Becca Huffer- also a top-25 recruit- and Katie Allare joined the Irish in the fall of 2008.

In her first campaign with the Fighting Irish, Holt witnessed her team post a then school-record scoring average of 305.46 during the 2006-07 season. Holt steered Notre Dame to a runner-up finish at the 2007 BIG EAST Championship. The Irish tied Louisville with a season-best 891 (+27) total during the 54-hole event. Notre Dame fell to the Cardinals by one stroke in the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Notre Dame tied a program record by placing four student-athletes on the all-BIG EAST Team with the fine performance at the 2007 BIG EAST Championship.

The showing at the conference tournament was the culmination of hard work displayed by the golfers and coaching staff during the season. Notre Dame produced two runner-up finishes, including one at the Lady Irish Invitational. The other second-place finish occurred at Kansas' Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational. The results were even more impressive given the Irish squad featured three freshmen in the five-person scoring lineup during the entire spring semester.

Notre Dame also made history when senior co-captain Noriko Nakazaki became the first team member in program history to qualify for NCAA play as an individual entrant. Nakazaki carded a three-round score of 224 (+11) to place in a tie for 18th at the NCAA Central Regional in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Holt came to Notre Dame from the University of South Florida, where she spent 13 successful seasons guiding the Bulls. In her final season, USF joined the BIG EAST Conference where she led the Bulls to a tie for third, along with the Irish, in their inaugural BIG EAST tournament.

"First and foremost, I was attracted by the opportunity to come to what I believe is the best academic and athletic combination that's out there," says Holt on why she decided to come to Notre Dame following a successful run at South Florida.

"The commitment to the golf program with the course and the new indoor facility makes a statement. As a coach you want to know that you have a chance to be successful and you can tell that's how it is at Notre Dame and it's impressive to see that."

A native of Dayton, Ohio, Holt made a return to the Midwest, where she began her college coaching career at Purdue University, with her hiring at Notre Dame. She was at the helm of the women's golf program at Purdue for four seasons from 1990-93 before taking the position at South Florida.

Holt directed the USF program to 16 team titles and 17 runner-up finishes, including five of 10 Conference USA Championships. She guided the team and/or individuals to 11 NCAA Regional appearances and trips to the NCAA Championship Finals in 2001 and 2002.

Holt's teams at South Florida won at least one tournament in 10 of her 13 seasons and she was recognized as the Conference USA Coach of the Year in 1996, 1999 and 2001. In the spring of 2005, Holt was named Conference USA Coach of the Decade for women's golf (1995-2005). Under Holt's watch, South Florida players were named to the Conference USA All-Conference Team 23 times. Current LPGA player and South Florida graduate Kelly Lagedrost was named Conference USA Player of the Year in 2001. Former South Florida golfer Christina Jones was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year in 2005.

Over the past 13 years Holt's teams have excelled academically as well. Twenty-one times, players have been named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar Golf Team (3.5 grade-point average and play in 66 percent of events) and 18 times have earned the Conference USA Commissioners Academic Medal (minimum 3.75 GPA). Her players earned all-Conference USA academic team honors (minimum 3.0 GPA) a total of seventy-five times. During her final season at USF, 10 players were named to the BIG EAST Conference Academic All-Star Team (minimum 3.0 GPA). The overall team grade-point average over the final 12 years at USF was an impressive 3.24.

Prior to college coaching, Holt worked as a club professional in West Palm Beach, Fla., and in Ipswich, Mass. She is a 1988 graduate of Ohio State University, where she played on the women's golf team that won Big Ten Championships in 1985 and 1988 and played in the NCAA Championship those same years. Holt graduated from Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio. She has been a member of the PGA of America since 1992.

Susan married Tim Holt of Kokomo, Ind., in 1993 and they are the parents of two children, Justin and Kristin.