Former LPGA champ becomes new women's golf coach

Three-time Ladies Professional Golf Association tour winner Maggie Will joined the University of Richmond women's golf team as the head coach this summer.

Will won the 1990 Desert Inn International, the 1992 Sara Lee Classic and the 1994 Children's Medical Center Classic. She has also finished within the top 15 in all four of the existing major LPGA tournaments: Kraft Nabisco Championship, LPGA Championship, U.S. Women's Open and Women's British Open, Will said.

"The Richmond team has a lot of potential, and I wanted to see that to fruition," Will said. "The unrealized potential is intriguing."

During the 2011-2012 season, Will aided the women's team at University of North Carolina-Wilmington as the assistant coach, she said. Before holding that position, she coached at North Carolina State University for 1.5 years. Will also served as the assistant coach for the Virginia Commonwealth University men's team in the fall of 2010. Will said that her time at VCU had piqued her interest in living in Richmond and that since then, she had had her eye on the University of Richmond.

Although Richmond is smaller than other schools she has coached at, she said the university had reminded her of her own alma mater, Furman University.

Will said her goals for the team this year were to improve the scoring average and have a better short game -- shots such as chipping and putting. The seniors on the team would like to win a conference championship, she said.

"They want it to be their last hurrah," Will said. "I'm ready to go for it, and they sound like they are, so hopefully we can figure out how to get that done."

Many of the returning players are just missing one little tweak to their game, whether that is a belief in themselves or one aspect of their game, she said.

"With that one little tweak, great things can happen," Will said.

Although winning the conference championship is the ultimate goal, Will strives to be the bridge to help each student-athlete reach her potential, she said.

Contact staff writer Katie Evans at katie.evans@richmond.edu