Emily Kuhfeld was named coach of the Georgia Southern women’s program in the summer of 2014 and is in her sixth season with the Eagles. Georgia Southern took third at the 2018 Sun Belt Championship, its best finish in program history, and the Eagles placed third again in 2019.
Georgia Southern finished third in three of its six tournaments in 2019-20, and the Eagles set program records for team stroke average and lowest team round. Ella Ofstedahl set the school record for individual scoring average and took co-medalist honors at the Idle Hour Collegiate, while Alberte Thuesen's scoring average was the lowest for a freshman in program history.
The 2018-19 campaign saw the Eagles record their second team championship in program history. GS won the inaugural Strutter Gus Invitational, their home tournament, and Ansley Bowman took medalist honors, becoming the first individual to win a tournament in program history. Ella Ofstedahl won medalist honors at the Sun Belt Champioship to become the first conference champ in program history. Bowman was named first-team All-Sun Belt, while Ofstedahl earned second-team all-league accolades and all-tournament kudos.
After spending her first year recruiting and putting together the school's first roster, Kuhfeld led the Eagles to a fourth-place finish at the Sun Belt Championship in 2015-16, the program's first year of competition. Georgia Southern made consistent progress throughout the season and peaked at the end of the year, taking fourth at the Bearcat Spring Classic before their fourth-place outing at the conference tournament.
The Eagles went on to win their first team title in 2016-17 by erasing an 11-stroke deficit in the final round of the Spring Break Shootout in March. It was one of four top-5 team finishes, and Georgia Southern individuals finished in the top-10 eight times.
Kuhfeld came to Statesboro from Texas Tech, where she spent three campaigns as an assistant coach for JoJo Robertson, helping guide Tech to some of its most successful seasons in program history. Kuhfeld assisted with daily practice instruction, recruiting, and the day-to-day operations of the program. She helped lead Tech to its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013, and the Lady Raiders posted two team victories last season.
A native of Indianapolis, Kuhfeld earned her degree in history from Ohio State in 2005 after wrapping up her playing career. The captain of the 2004-05 squad, Kuhfeld was a four-time Academic All-Big 10 selection and helped lead the Buckeyes to the Big 10 title in each of her four seasons. Following graduation, she spent nearly two years as a professional player on the Futures Tour before moving on to caddie for Allison Hanna on the LPGA Tour. She has a background in golf instruction and is an LPGA Class A T&CP member.
Following her time on tour, she worked two years as a golf instructor with both the Junior Players Golf Academy (JPGA) and at the Oyster Reef Golf Club in Hilton Head, S.C. While with the JPGA, Kuhfeld assisted in the organization's college placement program mission.
She began her collegiate coaching career as head coach at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where she led the NAIA program to a third-place finish in the Sun Conference and a spot in the national tournament. The Sand Sharks finished 18th at the NAIA National Championships and were ranked among the top-20 teams in the country. Under Kuhfeld's direction, Kelli Nakano claimed the Sun Conference individual title and earned All-American honors as well.
After a year at USC-Beaufort, Kuhfeld moved on to Texas Tech in 2011 and helped the Lady Raiders advance to NCAAs for the third-straight season. Texas Tech won two tournament titles that year, marking only the fourth time in program history and the first time since the 1995-96 campaign that Texas Tech won multiple tournaments. The Lady Raiders went on to tie for ninth at the NCAA West Regional held in Colorado, and Gabby Dominguez and Kim Kaufman qualified as individuals for the NCAA Championships, where they eventually finished tied for eighth, the highest finish for a Texas Tech player in school history.
