For South Carolina women’s golf coach Kalen Anderson, success is second nature

She loved golf. Still does. She loved the competition. Still does. But reality had set in back then and dashed her professional dreams: She would never be one of the world’s best players. So, what was Kalen Anderson gonna do? She thought about the times she enjoyed golf the most and the answer came quickly: In college, earning all-star honors in Duke’s high-powered women’s program that either won or competed for national championships. She made a decision: “I’ll coach.” Ah, if it were only that simple. For one thing, she would need an avenue into the profession, and few college programs funded assistant coaches in golf in those days, the mid-2000s. For another, she caddied at a posh Arizona country club and earned a nice income. Nevertheless, she called her former coach at Duke, and she’s glad she did. So is the University of South Carolina. Anderson spent two years at her alma mater and the past 17 at USC, and success has been her calling card for her women’s golf teams — a fact that will be on display over the next few days. The Gamecocks, ranked third in the national poll, will be competing in the NCAA Championship tournament … again. How Anderson landed at South Carolina The Anderson-to-Carolina story might be considered a match made in heaven. And it’s a match that might not have happened at all. Kristi Coggins, who had guided the USC women’s program for 13 years, resigned in January 2008. With the spring season looming, the Gamecocks need a coach and fast.

“I started calling people,” Puggy Blackmon, then USC’s director of golf, remembered. “Everybody said there’s an up-and-comer on the staff at Duke who has turned down a couple of (head coaching) jobs. “I told Eric (Hyman, USC’s director of athletics) that she’s got everything; she’s just young. Eric said, ‘You very rarely get your first choice.’ ” But Blackmon did. “Kalen came for a visit for a couple of days,” Blackmon said. “We talked about everything, outlining what we wanted and she talked about what she envisioned. I told her I would be there to help if needed. Long story short, she took the job.” The green acres that constitute Carolina’s practice facility alongside the Congaree River today would be an attractive selling point to any candidate. Then? “This whole complex hadn’t been built,” Anderson said. “My office was in a trailer beside the Roundhouse.” And still she came. “I loved the vision here,” she said. “It just felt like home. With me, it’s always about the people. I felt the commitment was there and the leadership. And I was young, too. Puggy was going to be there. He gave me the space I needed and Eric did, too. They were fantastic. Ray (Tanner), too.”

The result: Her teams have rewritten the program record book; players who have earned all-star honors are too numerous to count. Lofty ranking and trips to the nationals — 14 times in 18 seasons — come naturally, and classroom excellence is an integral part of the equation. “It’s what I envisioned, maybe even more,” she said. “The overall success we’ve had and happiness of the kids who have come through the program … the consistency is a huge success. The results will come and will continue to come. To me, it’s a big win that the players are very successful and having a great experience.”

‘Kalen can recruit’ Anderson has never been bashful about sharing her high expectations, nor has she been shy about believing that her vision — recruit, relate, develop — will pay dividends.

Success, she said on the day she took the USC job, “comes down to recruiting the right people. My job is to aim very high, turn (the Gamecocks) into a title program and go after the best players in the nation.” Soon enough, she expanded her recruiting net internationally in seeking the best of the best. “Recruiting is such a huge aspect of coaching,” said Duke’s Dan Brooks, who coached Anderson in college and gave her an assistant’s job. “You’ve got to bring in players who can compete successfully at a high level. That’s No. 1 by far, and look at her roster. Kalen can recruit.” That roster includes three players in the top 20 in the women’s world amateur golf rankings. “You want to recruit the very best players, and she’s done that,” Brooks said. “She’s recruited the top players out of a lot of countries in her career; it’s pretty challenging sometimes to convince a player to come to another country. … We at Duke have had great success with international players, and she has done the same.” Indeed, Anderson has persuaded players from far and wide to come to Columbia for their college education and to refine their golf skills.

“It’s hard to say no to Kalen Anderson,” current LPGA player Sarah Schmelzel, who came to Carolina from Arizona, said during the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open in Charleston. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, a native of France, planned to skip college and head straight to the pros, but Anderson kept the lines of communication open and said, “She called one day to say she had changed her mind.” “I fell in love with the facilities, life on campus, the diversity and so many great golf courses in the area,” Roussin-Bouchard, now playing on the LPGA Tour, said prior to the 2020 Women’s Open. Katelyn Dambaugh Sisk is in what she calls “a mom world” today with a three-month-old son and remembers fondly her days at Carolina, especially winning the 2016 SEC individual championship with her coach walking with her in the final round. “Kalen … wow,” she said. “She started recruiting me after I finished second in the 2010 U.S. Junior Girls championship. Our relationship grew through the years. She’s special. “She’s very smart in connecting with people … and fun to play for. She knows what she expects her players to do and holds everyone to high standards. She’s a great mentor and obviously recruits very well.”

Back to Dan Brooks: “College teams are very diverse, and that’s a great thing. As a coach, you have to create the team atmosphere. And Kalen works hard to find players. She works at it and it pays off. She’s just a great leader.” The players just needed to buy in, and they did.