A beloved figure in the history of Carolina Athletics, the charismatic Dot Gunnells was respected, admired and loved by virtually every person whom she ever came in contact with.
The head women’s golf coach at Carolina from 1975 until her retirement in 1993, Gunnells was also the advisor to the Tar Heels’ cheerleading squad for most of that time, including the cheer group which won the national championship in 1978 on a CBS nationally televised broadcast.
Beyond just her coaching and advising, Gunnells, who passed away in 2017, is remembered for having touched an amazing number of lives.
“Dot was so loving and so kind and just an adorable human being,” says retired head women’s golf coach Jan Mann. “She loved her players and they loved her. When I came here, I made sure that Dot stayed involved in our program. She attended our practices and she was a mainstay in her presence at tournaments we played in. She loved spending time with the players even decades after her retirement and everyone involved in our program appreciated her so much.”
Born in 1928, Gunnells attended Memphis State University and eventually moved to Chapel Hill with her husband Jack, who for decades served as the director of personnel at the University before he passed away in 1996.
Carolina elevated varsity sports for women in 1971-72 and while golf was not among the original seven sports, it was added in 1973. The first two seasons had two different coaches at UNC before Gunnells began her 19-year tenure with the program.
Historically, some of the best teams ever to play at Carolina were tutored by this dynamic woman. Her 1978 team finished 10th in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) nationals followed by a 12th-place finish in 1982.
After the NCAA took over stewardship of women’s sports on the national level in the early 1980s, Gunnells’ teams only got better, finishing 12th in 1984 and then eighth in three of her last five seasons: in 1989 and then again in both 1992 and 1993. The 1989 team was led at NCAAs by Donna Andrews, whose third-place finish ranks as the highest in Tar Heel history.
She mentored six All-Americas and led the 1992 squad to the ACC championship….
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