Melissa Luellen

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With Melissa Luellen at the helm, Arizona State University women's golf program, the Sun Devils have again reached the highest level of success. In her 10 years at Arizona State, the Sun Devils under Luellen has accomplished the following:

• NCAA Team Championship in 2009
• Two Pac-10 Titles
• NCAA Individual Champion in 2008 (Azahara Munoz)
• 23 Tournament Team Titles
• 11 Golfers named to a total of 18 All-American teams
• Three Pac-12 Golfers of the Year
• Three NGCA Freshmen of the Year
• 18 Individual Tournament Medalists
• Nine-straight NCAA Postseason Appearances

Luellen's superior coaching capabilities have earned her a myriad of honors. After the Sun Devils NCAA Championship run in 2009, Luellen was named SkyCaddie NGCA Coach of the Year. She has been named Pacific-10 Coach of the Year three times while at ASU, in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Luellen has been awarded West Regional Coach of the Year four times in her career (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) and was also named Central Regional Coach of the Year while at Tulsa in 2002.

While Luellen's golfers have surely succeeded on the greens, what is more impressive is how they have excelled in the classroom. Five of Luellen's Sun Devil athletes have been honored by the NGCA as Academic All-Americans. In 2009, 2008 NCAA Champion Azahara Munoz also became the first double winner of the Edith Cummings Munson Award, which is given to the All-American with the highest GPA. The following year, the award was kept in the Sun Devil family as Juliana Murcia won the same honor. Luellen has had 19 athletes be placed on Pac-10 All-Academic teams for a total of 33 honors.

Luellen came to ASU after spending two seasons as the head women's golf coach at her alma mater, the University of Tulsa (2001-02). Luellen, a four-time All-American for the Golden Hurricane, succeeded her mother, Dale McNamara, who retired in 2000 following a 26-year career that saw her Tulsa teams win four national championships.

In her two seasons as Tulsa's head coach, Luellen led her team to seven tournament titles including back-to-back Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Central Regional championships in each year. The 2001-02 season saw her team win five tournaments, including the 2002 PING/ASU Championship at Karsten Golf Course, earn a No. 3 national ranking for most of the season and finish 12th at the 2002 NCAA Championships. Luellen was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in each of her two seasons and was the 2002 Central Regional Coach of the Year.

Not only has Luellen proven herself as a top-tier coach, she was a successful golfer herself. Luellen was a four-time All-American at the University of Tulsa. She won medalist honors at four tournaments, including just the second event of her collegiate career and finished in the top 10 in 22 of 41 career events. She capped off a stellar collegiate career by capturing a two-stroke individual victory at the 1988 NCAA Championship and leading the Golden Hurricanes to the national team title.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Tulsa in 1988, Luellen competed on the Futures and Ladies European Tours in 1988 and 1989 before qualifying for the LPGA Tour in October of 1989. She spent 11 years on the LPGA Tour, winning the 1991 Stratton Mountain LPGA Classic and teaming with Mike Springer to win the 1993 JC Penney Classic. She was also elected to the LPGA Executive Committee in her final two years on the tour.

Prior to entering college, she was a three-time Oklahoma state high school champion and American Junior Golf Association All-American (1982-1984) in 1983, she was named the AJGA Player of the Year. Luellen was inducted to the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998 and the University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

Luellen and her husband, Mark, were married on Dec. 14, 2002 in Scottsdale. The couple lives in Cave Creek. They have a son, Drake, and a daughter, Sydney, and one dog, Seamus and one cat, Kitty Moe.

ASU TEAM TITLES WON UNDER COACH LUELLEN (2003-2012)
Paradise Desert Classic (2011)
Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational (2011)
Tri Meet with New Mexico, Arizona (2011)
Wildcat Invitational (2010)
Stanford Intercollegiate (2009)
TOPY Cup (2009)
NCAA Championship (2009)
NCAA West Regional (2009)
Pac-10 Championships (2009)
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (2009)
The Derby Invitational (2008)
NCAA Fall Preview (2008)
Stanford Intercollegiate (2008)
Pac-10 Conference Champions (2007)
PING/ASU Invitational (2007)
"Mo" Memorial Invitational (2007)
Wildcat Invitational (2007)
Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (2006)
Wildcat Invitational (2006)
PING/ ASU Invitational (2005)
Stanford/Pepsi Intercollegiate (2004)
Price's Give 'Em Five Intercollegiate (2004)

ASU TOURNAMENT MEDALISTS UNDER COACH LUELLEN (2003-2012)
Giulia Molinaro - 2011 Dale McNamara Invitational
Giulia Molinaro - 2011 Paradise Desert Classic
Carlota Ciganda - 2011 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational
Carlota Ciganda - 2011 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Carlota Ciganda - 2010 Pac-10 Championships (First Back-to-Back Pac-10 Champ)
Jaclyn Sweeney - 2009 TOPY Cup
Carlota Ciganda - 2009 NCAA West Regional
Carlota Ciganda - 2009 Pac-10 Championships
Juliana Murcia- 2009 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Anna Nordquist- 2008 The Derby Invitational
Azahara Munoz 2008 NCAA Championships
Anna Nordquist- 2008 PING/ASU Invitational (tie)
Anna Nordquist- 2007 Pac-10 Championships (tie)
Anna Nordquist- 2007 PING/ASU Invitational
Jennifer Osborn-2005 Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
Louise Stahle-2005 Pac-10 Conference Championships
Louise Stahle-2005 PING/ASU Invitational
Louise Stahle-2005 Arizona Wildcat Invitational