PHOENIX, Ariz. – Legendary Sun Devil Women’s Golf head coach Linda Vollstedt was honored for her contributions to women’s sports during a halftime ceremony at the Phoenix Mercury game on Tuesday.
Vollstedt was recognized as a part of the “Believe in Women” series started by the Phoenix Mercury back in 2020. The WNBA Franchise is celebrating influential female figures in sports. Few have had the impact of Vollstedt, who is a champion for gender equality on and off the course.
“The men practiced at the country club and the women practiced on a dirt field.”
Last night’s @FrysFoodStores Believe in Women Honoree was Linda Vollstedt. At the helm of @SunDevilWGolf for 21 years, the five-time national Coach of the Year became synonymous with excellence. pic.twitter.com/arJpmpOGHI
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) June 22, 2022
The 2022 Believe in Women class includes some of the most important names in sports, with Vollstedt joining an exclusive list. Tennis icon Billie Jean King, recently retired Sun Devil Women’s Basketball head coach Charli Turner Thorne, Stanford Women’s Basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer, and trailblazing women’s basketball player/executive Ann Meyers Drysdale were inducted earlier in the season. If you take a closer look at Vollstedt’s resume, it is easy to see why she was honored as one of the greats in female athletics.
The LPGA Professionals Hall of Famer enjoyed successful career at Arizona State University as the head women’s golf coach from 1980-2001. When all was said and done, Vollstedt was widely considered as the most successful coach in the history of Sun Devil Athletics. She was also one of the most influential advocates for women’s collegiate sports and Title XI, helping female sports grow not only at Arizona State, but across the country.
During her tenure as the Sun Devil Women’s Golf Coach, she built ASU into the top collegiate program in the country. Vollstedt guided the Sun Devils to an unprecedented six NCAA Championships and sent 22 elite collegiate players to the LPGA Tour.
Her teams captured 9 Conference Championships, boasted 42 All Americans and 71 All-Conference Players, as well as 25 Academic All-Americans. A total of 12 individuals won Conference Medalists honors and 4 Sun Devils became Individual NCAA Champions under Vollstedt’s watch. In 1995, the…
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