Globetrotters of Golf

Head Women's Golf Coach Cathy Mant

It took a bit of arm twisting to persuade Cathy Mant to become GSU's first full-time women's golf coach.

The 10-year, LPGA Tour veteran was an instructor at Eagle's Landing Golf Club back in 2000 when Trey Jones, then the men's coach and director of Golf Operations, first approached her to take over the program.

"I kept telling him, 'nope, nope, nope,'" she said.

Eventually, the challenge became too intriguing to pass up, she said. After all, as a professional golf teacher, she had molded the skill sets of players who had gone on to play for powerhouse golf schools such as Stanford, Tennessee and her alma mater, Arizona State.

"I came in thinking that it's going to be about mechanics, teaching, that kind of stuff," she said. "Goodness gracious, I soon realized there's a lot more to it!"

She quickly learned that the most important part of coaching at the collegiate level is recruiting. And to make the program a success nationally, she knew her first order of business would be to bring in top tier players - not an easy feat considering the program's newcomer status.

So Mant decided to look far outside of the traditional recruiting grounds of the Southeast. In fact, she looked all the way across the pond.

"I found that there were some great international players who wanted to come here because they had the opportunity to get a great education and to continue to play golf," she said.

In many countries, Mant explained, universities don't offer intercollegiate golf. Moreover, she used Georgia State's urban setting as a selling point to her recruits.

"These kids are used to life in the big city, they're well-traveled and well-educated," she said.

Mant's model yielded success almost immediately. In 2003, she was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to their first-ever conference title and NCAA Tournament bid. That team was led by Lisbeth Meincke, a native of Rungsted, Denmark, who won the conference tournament that year and would go on to win three more individual titles and earn player of the year honors in 2005 and 2006.

Heading into her 11th season, Mant is now the winningest coach in Georgia State golf history. She has won six Coach of the Year awards, and her teams have posted 21 tournament victories, won five conference titles and made seven NCAA Regional appearances.

Her 2011 team - led by another Dane, junior Charlotte Lorenzen, the 2010 CAA Golfer of the Year and the conference tournament medalist - is the two-time defending Colonial Athletic Association champion.

Meincke and Lorenzen, like many of Mant's international players, had played on their country's national team.

"They've competed at a high level internationally, so these girls know how to handle the competition and the pressure," Mant said.

Mant knows a few things about top-flight competition. In 1970, the All-American at Arizona State won the individual title at the Division of Girls and Women's Sports Championship (later known as the Women's NCAA Championship).

For her athletes, coming to the States to play college golf is no doubt a huge leap of faith. "Some of the kids I don't meet face to face until I pick them up at the airport," Mant said.

 "It's tough for the girls as well as for their parents. They're adjusting to a new country, a new environment - a college environment - a new language, new food. It's total culture shock."

Mant, assistant coach Jackie Szymoniak and the team's American-born players do their best to help curb the international players' homesickness.

For the team's Christmas dinner, Mant made sure they got a hefty helping of American hospitality.

"I made them a great big home-cooked meal."