LSU INTRO Coaches TIGERS review History LSU
Karen
BAHNSEN Head C o a ch
26TH SEASON Karen Bahnsen starts her 26th year as the LSU women’s golf coach, loving her job as much as she did the day former coach Buddy Alexander asked her to take the job. With the way her team has played of late, advancing to the NCAA Division I National Championship three of the last four years, there are a lot of things to love about the LSU golf program. One of the things to love is the way Bahnsen coaches her team with a drive and determination and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to succeed. But she has had the drive, the determination and a willingness to succeed ever since she was a player at LSU in the early 1980s, joining the fledgling program as its first signee. One can also say that those who have succeeded in this program are those that understand that same drive, that determination and a willingness to do whatever is necessary that Bahnsen preaches. Bahnsen knows what it takes to get to the pinnacle of women’s collegiate golf - the NCAA
Division I Women’s Championship Tournament. She will ask her team to work hard and respond to the challenge, but it will be nothing less than she ever asked of herself as a player. If the players accept and understand, success usually follows. Bahnsen has come up with a simple philosophy that she followed as a player. It’s so simple, but so amazingly effective when put into play. She wants her team to play each shot as a separate event. If something bad happens, forget it and move on. Don’t let it carry on for four or five holes. Most of all, she wants her players to have fun. When her players believe in it as much as Bahnsen does, they usually a) play strong team rounds or b) grind out a potentially disastrous round and turn it into a score the team can use. Both are important ingredients in a successful golf season. Bahnsen’s love and desire for a program she has devoted over half her life to is what also gives her the smiling satisfaction about a program she has virtually helped 2009-2010 LSU Women’s golf Media Guide
5