STATESBORO – Georgia Southern Director of Athletics
Jared Benko announced today that he has selected Mimi Burke to lead the Eagle women's golf program.
Burke comes to Statesboro from the University of Georgia, where she spent the last four seasons. The Bulldogs posted six top-5 team finishes in 2020-21 and won the NCAA Columbus Regional to advance to the NCAA Finals for the first time since 2016 as Georgia entered the finals ranked 11th in the country by Golfstat. Georgia advanced to the NCAA Regionals in 2018 and 2019, and Burke helped mentor two All-America selections, three All-SEC recipients and three All-SEC Freshmen selections.
"I am honored and humbled to be named the head coach at Georgia Southern and excited about joining Eagle Nation," said Burke. "I am extra grateful for the experiences and memories at both Georgia and Purdue with Josh Brewer and Devon Brouse that have led me to this point in my career. With that being said, I cannot wait to get to work in Statesboro and hit the ground running. GATA"
Burke began her collegiate coaching career at Purdue, where she served as an assistant coach for the women's program from 2015-17. The Boilermakers earned bids to the NCAA Regionals in both seasons and advanced to the 2017 NCAA Finals at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. Purdue went on to place 11th of 24 teams while August Kim tied for fourth on the individual leaderboard. Kim also won medalist honors at the 2016 Big Ten Championships and earned All-America honors in 2016 and 2017.
"I am thrilled to have Mimi Burke join our Athletics family as our new women's golf head coach," Benko said. "Mimi comes highly recommended and is considered one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the country. Her experience at Purdue and Georgia have prepared her to excel in this role. We look forward to welcoming Mimi and her fiancé, C.J. Gatto, to Eagle Nation!"
A native of Mooresville, North Carolina, Burke was a four-year letterwinner at Appalachian State from 2009-13, where she posted the 10th-best stroke average in school history. She notched a career-best fourth-place finish at the 2012 Dayton/Hilton Head Invitational and also recorded the seventh-best 54-hole score ever by a Mountaineer at the 2012 Morehead State Ocala Invitational. She earned her bachelor's degree in hospitality and tourism management from Appalachian State in 2013.
Following graduation, Burke was the assistant at River Run Country Club in Davidson, North Carolina, where she assisted with golf operations, including youth camps and tourneys, and helped with the staging of several tournaments, including the Web.com Tour's Chiquita Classic.
Prior to that, she worked with the PGA's Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, where she coordinated the PGA Tour event's Executive Women's Day, developed the player handbook and oversaw player activities with local companies. She also managed ticket elements and supervised hospitality tents.
Georgia Southern is set to return six letterwinners to the 2021-22 roster, including four of the five who played in the lineup at the Sun Belt Championships.
