In 1990, a young freshman walked on to the women’s golf team to play under then-head coach Renee Baumgartner.
Ten years later, that young freshman became Baumgartner’s successor.
Shannon Rouillard was promoted from her assistant coaching position to become the head coach of the Oregon women’s golf team.
Never in her wildest dreams did she think that this day would come.
“When [athletic director] Bill Moos offered me the job, I got very emotional,” said Rouillard, who played for the Ducks from 1990-95. “I couldn’t ask for anything more than to be head coach at the University of Oregon.”
Baumgartner had held the head coaching position at Oregon for a total of 11 years and helped bring the Ducks on par with the elite golf schools in the nation. She capped off her coaching career by leading her “dream team” to a tied for 11th-place finish at the 2000 NCAA Championships in Sun River. It was the school’s second-highest finish ever.
Baumgartner will become the full-time associate athletics director and senior women’s administrator and said she couldn’t be more thrilled with her replacement.
“Shannon was really one of the pioneers who helped establish the reputation of the Oregon program,” Baumgartner said. “She has a strong commitment to academics, excellence and discipline, and will carry on the tradition that we have established here very well.”
Rouillard says that one of the reasons she is confident she’ll do well is that it hasn’t been long since she was a Duck athlete.
“Part of what will help me in my coaching career is that I am still a competitor,” said Rouillard, who was Oregon’s MVP in 1995. “I still know what it feels like to be nervous on the first tee or to have to sink a six-foot putt for birdie. I think it’s very important that the players know that I can relate to what they’re experiencing.”
Rouillard was named to the Oregon women’s golf team of the decade for the 90s and considers it an extreme privilege to be able to coach at the school she graduated from.
“If you would have told me when I walked on the team in 1990 that I would be the head coach 10 years later, I would have said you were crazy,” Rouillard said. “There aren’t too many people who get the privilege of becoming head coach at their alma mater.”