Washington State tees it up with new coach

Sofie Aagaard is skilled at making connections – anyone involved with the International team at the 2020 Palmer Cup can tell you that.

It was Aagaard, then at the helm of Cal Poly’s women’s program, who painstakingly contacted family members for each of 24 players on the International squad seeking a personal message for a compilation video. When the video was played during the event, which had been moved back months from its usual summer slot to just a few days before Christmas, there weren’t many dry eyes in the room. The intent, said Aagaard, was to show that “we all have a similar background, in one way or another.”

Later that week, the Internationals won the team competition in a rout.

“I think that Palmer Cup, I get chills just thinking about it,” she said. “We figured out how to connect those players, across gender, across ages, across cultures, nations.”

This is particularly relevant now that Aagaard has just taken up the reins at Washington State, where a diverse squad includes players from the West Coast as well as Australia, Denmark, Thailand and China. Consider Aagaard, coming off seven years at Cal Poly, one of the exceptional new hires of the summer. Barely a month into the fall season, there’s much relationship building going on in Pullman.

Aagaard, however, is quick to point out that there’s still a lot of familiarity among the program. Former coach Kelli Kamimura, a friend of Aagaard’s, remains on campus working for Athletics HR. Her office is one floor above Aagaard’s. Associate head coach Emma White remains and Aagaard has already brought in a sports psychologist who had previously worked with the team.

“I think the transition was easy because of all those factors,” Aagaard said, “…because we speak similar language. I think it was more of a time just to realize we are in this together.”

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Already, the Cougars are getting business done. Last week they tied for fourth in their season opener, the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin. Three Cougars – Darcy Habgood, Jinyu Wu and Madelyn Gamble – landed inside the top 20 individually. Aagaard spent the week figuring out what is productive for her players on course, what kind of conversations to have with them and where they need support.

“In Madison, I think we had great composure on course, there was very good energy on course,” Aagaard said. “Executing shots from tee to green was really good. Where…