Emily Bastel Head Coach

On June 8, 2012, the University of Florida announced the hiring of former LPGA Tour player and collegiate All-American, Emily Bastel, as women’s head golf coach. The Upper Sandusky, Ohio native brings experience as a student-athlete, coach and professional and an attitude for winning that has followed her at each stop along the way.

Bastel, who was the assistant coach last year under former Gator head coach Jan Dowling, was an assistant coach at Duke and Michigan State, prior to arriving at Florida. Last year, Bastel was part of a Gator team that finished 12th in the NCAA Championships and 4th at the SEC Championships.

Before her move to Gainesville in July of 2010, Bastel served as assistant coach for Duke University’s women’s golf team during the 2009-10 season, filling the void left behind when Dowling accepted the head coaching job at Florida. During her one season at Duke, the team finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and tied for eighth at the NCAA Championship.

Bastel, who played four years at Michigan State (MSU), was an NCAA All-American in 2002, a four-time All-Big Ten selection (1999-2002) and was the 2002 Big Ten Golf Athlete of the Year. She set the Spartan single-season record for stroke average at 74.81 during the 2002 season. Bastel’s storied career at Michigan State includes being named to the United States’ Curtis Cup team in 2002 and being selected as the Michigan State George Alderton Athlete of the Year in 2000 and 2002. After her stint as a player, she was hired as an assistant coach at MSU, a position she held from 2002-03. In 2012, Bastel was inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame to commemorate her success as a Spartan athlete and coach.

Bastel competed on the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup squad in 2002 and was also on that year’s U.S. World Amateur Team Championship for the United States. She was a semifinalist at the 2001 U.S. Women’s Amateur, played in three U.S. Women’s Open Championships (2002, 2004 and 2005) and is a three-time Ohio State Women’s Amateur Champion (1999, 2001 and 2003).

After her career at Michigan State, Bastel competed on the LPGA Tour in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and played on the Duramed Futures Tour in 2004, 2007 and 2009. She captured the Futures Tour Player of the Year award and was the leading money winner in 2007. Bastel carded a career low 66 at the 2008 McDonald’s LPGA Championship. She also notched two top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour. A three-time member of the Big Ten All-Academic Team, Bastel received her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Michigan State University in the spring of 2002.

Bastel’s Coaching Experience