About two weeks after athletic director Jeremy Foley was shocked by the news of Jan Dowling resigning from her position as Florida women’s head golf coach, he was once again caught by surprise. This time it was by assistant coach Emily Bastel.
After being with the Gators for less than a year, Bastel was announced as the new head coach on Friday.
“I was just blown away,” Foley said. “We had a diamond in our midst and didn’t even know it.”
Before coaching at Florida, Bastel was the assistant coach at Duke University in the 2009-10 season and at Michigan State University in the 2002-03 season. Despite only having coaching experience as an assistant coach, Bastel felt like she was ready to step up and take over the team.
“I knew there would be lots of qualified candidates, but I really was just looking for a shot,” Bastel said. “Over the last year, being on campus and around the players and getting a feel for what it was like to be around Gator athletics, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.”
Bastel was always around the sport thanks to her father being a professional and the course superintendent to their family’s golf course.
She then went on to play at Michigan State from 1999 to 2002. She also competed on the LPGA Tour in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and the Duramed Futures Tour in 2004, 2007 and 2009.
“When she left the room, we all sort of looked at each other and said, you know, ‘Wow.’ It was that impressive,” said senior associate athletic director Mike Spiegler, who oversees women’s golf. “She may be on the quiet side, but she’s confident and has an idea about the direction we’re headed and will continue to go.”
If her interview and years of experience in the sport weren’t enough to get her the job, the support of the entire women’s team only helped. According to Spiegler every member of the team contacted him with support for Bastel.
“I’m so happy and so relieved,” senior Isabelle Lendl said from her home in Goshen, Conn. “Emily has been around golf her whole life and knows the ins and outs of the game. She’s a balanced, experienced person, and I think that makes a big difference.”
