Mimi Burke enters her fifth season leading the Georgia Southern women's golf program in the 2025-2026 season.
Burke led Georgia Southern to its first national championship appearance in her fourth season at the helm to earn Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors. The Eagles finished tied for 24th place at the 2025 NCAA National Championship marking the highest finish by a Sun Belt school since the 2009 season. Burke led the Eagles to a tie for second place at the NCAA Lexington Regional to advance to the national championship only losing to #3 Florida State by five strokes. The Eagles won six tournament championships on the season and secured the highest ranking in program history sitting at #32 in the country. The Eagles shattered the team average program record (291.40) and tallied the programs second most team birdies (383). Burke was also named to the WGCA National Coach of the Year watchlist.
Year one saw Burke lead the Eagles to their first Sun Belt Championship, and Georgia Southern finished seventh at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional in its first NCAA Championship appearance. The Eagles posted two team wins and three runner-up finishes while shooting eight of the 10 lowest rounds in program history, season scoring average of 298.63 is the best in school history. The Eagles' three-round total of 851 at the Buccaneer Classic in the fall broke the school record by 20 strokes, and their 278 in the second round was also a school record. Burke was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
Georgia Southern notched three team wins in the 2022-23 season and finished fourth in the Sun Belt Championship. Abby Newton was named first-team All-Sun Belt, while Haley Yerxa was named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and second-team all-league.
In year three, Burke led the team to a runner-up finish at the Sun Belt Championship along with two team wins, five top-5 finishes, and nine top-10 team finishes in the 2023-24 season. Louise Reau earned Sun Belt Golfer of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors and became the first Eagle to secure an individual bid to a NCAA Regional. The awards marks the first freshman in league history to receive both awards and the first time an Eagle has earned the pair of honors. Additionally, Burke mentored two first-team All-Sun Belt selections and two second-team selections. During the season, Georgia Southern ranked as high as 52nd in the country for its best ranking in program history.
During her tenure on the staffs at Georgia and Purdue over the last six seasons, Burke has coached in five consecutive NCAA Regionals and mentored three All-Americans, four all-conference selections and eight Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar honorees.
Burke came to Statesboro from the University of Georgia, where she coached from 2017-21. The Bulldogs posted six top-5 team finishes in 2020-21, won the NCAA Columbus Regional to advance to the NCAA Finals for the first time since 2016 and finished the season ranked 16th 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.
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.
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.
Burke and her husband, C.J. Gatto, a former collegiate golfer at UNLV, were married in Asheville, North Carolina, in July of 2021. The couple resides in Statesboro.
