Arizona’s three-time national championship winning women’s golf program is in the market for a new head coach after Texas announced the hiring of former Wildcat player and coach Laura Ianello to lead its Longhorn team.
It’s the end of an era as Ianello, who Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte called “one of the nation’s elite golf coaches” is moving on from Arizona after 14 years at the helm of the program.
During that time, Ianello coached 17 All-Americans, was a two-time Pac-12 coach of the year, won a NCAA Division I Women’s Golf national championship in 2018, and went to the NCAA Championships 9 out of 13 times the event was held. Arizona also won the 2015 Pac-12 Championship.
Arizona was the only program in the nation to reach the semifinals of match play in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 NCAA Championships.
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Laura Ianello, then the head coach of the Arizona women’s golf team and a former Wildcat player herself, speaks during the dedication of UA’s new William M. “Bill” Clements Golf Center at Tucson Country Club on April 18.
Ianello also played golf at UA from 1999-2003 and was part of the Wildcats’ 2000 national championship-winning team.
A year ago, Arizona finished ninth in the country, just missing out on match play and this season finished sixth in their 2024 NCAA regional appearance, missing out on a berth to nationals by two shots while competing in Las Vegas.
The Texas women's golf program announced the hiring of 14-year Arizona head coach Laura Ianello for the same role at UT.
Del Conte, who was Arizona’s senior associate director for external operations and sports programs from 2000-06, said that Ianello “checks all the boxes as a leader and person and is a highly respected coach with a great reputation in the collegiate golf community.”
“What she has accomplish during her 14 seasons at Arizona is outstanding, and she brings the wisdom and knowledge of an All-American and LPGA Tour golfer in her playing days, as well,” he said in a statement. “Laura is a program builder with a championship pedigree, and she truly cares about her student-athletes, whether it be on the course, in the classroom or as people.”
Ianello inherits a Longhorns program after the resignation of Ryan Murphy last week. Murphy, who had been UT’s women’s golf coach for the last 10 years, helped guide the Longhorns to victories in five of the last six Big 12 championships; he was named the Big 12’s 2024 Coach of the Year and led the Longhorns to an 11th place finish at the NCAA Championship.
“I am thrilled to be named the new women’s golf coach at The University of Texas,” Ianello said, also in a UT-issued statement. “My goals are simple: build positive relationships with the current team, work hard, recruit the best and win championships. I’m grateful to the University of Arizona for my 17 years (as an assistant and head coach), and I am thrilled for a new beginning at The University of Texas.”
Arizona women’s golf coach Laura Ianello watches her team compete in the Pac-12 Championships at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix on April 17, 2023.
Arizona announced in July 2023 that the UA and Ianello had agreed on a contract extension through 2028.
Arizona athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois is now tasked with hiring her second coach since her tenure started in March. After the UA announced last month that Arizona swimming and diving coach Augie Busch would not return in 2024-25, Reed-Francois hired Ben Loorz from UNLV.
In a statement released by the UA, Reed-Francois thanked Ianello for “continuing the championship legacy” and said her department is starting a national search for their next leader.
“This is one of the top coaching jobs in college golf, and we will work diligently to find a new head coach who is best fit to continue the championship golf culture of Arizona’s women’s golf,” Reed-Francois said.
William M. "Bill" Clements Golf Center Dedication | April 28, 2024 (Arizona Athletics YouTube)
