MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College alumnus
Ted Vickerman '02, who has led the Auggie men's golf program for the past four years, will add head coaching responsibilities for the women's golf program, athletic director
Jeff Swenson has announced.
Laura Patrick, who has served as the women's golf team's head coach for four seasons, will now serve as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's golf programs.
Swenson said that the coaching move will enable Vickerman to focus on recruiting to build both teams' rosters, while allowing Patrick to bring her talents as a golf professional to both teams.
“This restructuring will benefit the men's and women's golf programs and allow both programs to be stronger, as we put Ted and Laura in positions that will play on their strengths as coaches,” Swenson said.
Vickerman, a 2002 Augsburg alumnus, completed his fourth season as Augsburg's men's golf coach in 2008-09. Under Vickerman's leadership, the Auggies have finished among the top three teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships three times in his four years as coach (Augsburg has finished fifth or better at the MIAC championships 14 of the last 15 seasons).
This season, Augsburg finished third at the MIAC meet and recorded a team stroke average of 315.1, with an 80-63 record (.559) against opponents during the season.
A four-year veteran of Augsburg's men's golf program (1999-2002), Vickerman compiled a 78.86 career stroke average in his four seasons (57 rounds) at Augsburg, including a career-best 76.67 average in the fall half of 2002-03 (Vickerman graduated in December 2002). He earned All-MIAC honors with a fifth-place finish at the MIAC championships in 2001, while finishing 18th in the conference meet in 2002.
Patrick, a former Division I collegiate golfer at Bradley (Ill.) and Ohio State, has worked as a teaching professional for the Golf Academy of the Three Rivers Park District at Baker National Golf Course in Medina, Minn., since 2003. Patrick is a Class A LPGA Teaching Professional and has been nominated for LPGA Midwest Section Teacher of the Year (2008) and Golf Digest's Best Teachers in the state of Minnesota (2007).
She serves as co-site director and instructor for the LPGA-USGA Girls' Golf Program and conducts private, semi-private and group lessons to adults and children of all skill levels at Baker National. She also owns her own golf instruction business, LP Golf.
The Auggie women's golf team finished the 2008-09 season with a 393.1 stroke average, an improvement of 11.4 strokes from last season, with three of the four returning golfers improving their averages from last year. The Auggies had a strong spring half of the season, with a 388.9 stroke average in its five April competitions, after compiling a 396.1 stroke average in the fall half of the year.
