Dianne Dailey Position: Head Coach Experience: 22nd Season Alma Mater: Salem College '71

Dianne Dailey is beginning her 22nd season as Wake Forest's head women's golf coach in the fall of 2009. Since she took over in 1988, the Deacons have been to 17 NCAA Regionals and 12 NCAA Championships.

Over the years, Coach Dailey has compiled quite the resume while coaching at Wake Forest. She has coached 10 players who have been named All-America 18 times, five players who have been named Academic All-American 10 times, four ACC Players of the Year, including Natalie Sheary in 2008 and three ACC Rookies of the Year.

Dailey's teams have notched 25 team victories, including three ACC Championships and two NCAA East Regional Championships. The Deacons have finished in the top 20 of the final national rankings in each of the last 17 years.

Under Dailey, Wake Forest squads have advanced to 12 NCAA Championships in the last 16 years. In addition to the team's success, Dailey has continued to develop some of the top individual players in the nation.

Natalie Sheary was named honorable mention All-America by the National Golf Coaches Association each of the last two years and Nannette Hill was a second team All-American in 2009. The pair are two of 12 Demon Deacons to garner All-America honors. It also marked just the second time in school history that two Demon Deacons earned All-American honors in the same season. Dailey was also at the helm the last time in happened in 1995 when Stephanie Neill earned first team honors and Alexandra Armas garnered second team accolades.

In 2009, both Hill and Sheary were named to the All-ACC Team for the second-straight year and Sheary was named the ACC Player of the Year after earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2008.

The team won its third ACC Title under Dailey in 2009, snapping Duke's 13-year reign as conference champs. As a result, Dailey was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the third time.

In 2006 and 2007, Mandy Goins was named honorable mention All-America by the NGCA. Goins and Hill were each named All-ACC following the 2006 season. In 2005, Ashley Hoagland was named NGCA First Team All-America, as well as First Team Academic All-America.

Hoagland also was named All-ACC both as a junior and a senior. Throughout her four years, Hoagland dropped her stroke average each season, finishing with a 73.54 average her senior year.

In 2003, Nuria Clau earned numerous awards, including ACC Player of the Year, All-ACC, first team Academic All-America and second team NGCA All-America. Clau earned All-ACC honors for the Deacs and NGCA All-America honors in 2002 as well.

In 1998, Alexandra Armas earned All-America honors for the second time in her career, marking the seventh-consecutive season that Dailey produced an All-American. In addition, Marta Prieto captured the ACC individual championship, becoming the fourth ACC champion in school history and the third under Dailey. Prieto also capped an outstanding 2000 NCAA Championship with a third-place finish, the highest finish ever for a Wake Forest women's golfer.

In 2001, Prieto finished off her career garnering second team All-America honors from the NCGA.

Dailey has built Wake Forest into a consistent powerhouse in women's golf over the past 20+ years. She has placed the Deacons on the collegiate golf map thanks to continued success year in and year out. Wake Forest has finished in the top 10 of the NCAA Championship four times since 1993, including a third-place showing in 1995.

The third-place finish remains one of the highest ever for an ACC school in women's golf, and capped a remarkable run which saw Wake Forest capture back-to-back ACC and NCAA East Regional championships in 1994 and 1995.

As a result of her hard work and success, Dailey has been recognized by her peers as one of the nation's best coaches. In 2001, the National Golf Coaches Association inducted Dailey into the NGCA Hall of Fame. She is just one of four ACC coaches in the prestigious hall, the others being Dan Brooks (Duke), Dot Gunnells (North Carolina) and Lela Cannon (Miami).

Also in 2001, the LPGA named Dailey their Coach of the Year, an award given to a woman golf professional who is actively engaged in teaching and/or coaching golf at the college, university or high school level. Dailey was named ACC Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1995, District Coach of the Year by the NGCA in 1994, 1996 and 2000 and LPGA Southeast Coach of the Year in 1994, 1998 and 2001. In 1995, she was recognized by the NGCA with the Gladys Palmer Service Award for her service to the National Golf Coaches Association.

After serving 11 years as both the women's golf coach and the Senior Women's Administrator for the WFU athletic department, Dailey stepped out of the administrative role in September of 1999 to dedicate her full attention to the golf team.

"It was difficult to manage both as well as I would have liked to, and I wanted the chance to develop a championship golf team at Wake Forest," Dailey said.

In previous seasons, Dailey served as chairman of the NCAA Golf Committee, heading up the NCAA Championship as well as setting policies for college golf. In addition to those duties, she has been the Associate Director of the College Golf Foundation and President of the NGCA. A native of Frankfort, Ky., Dailey graduated from nearby Salem College in Winston-Salem in 1971 and gained her master's degree from NC State. After working as Assistant Academic Dean at Salem from 1976-79, she turned to her pro golf career and subsequently, Wake Forest.

Since taking over the women's golf program in July of 1988, Dailey has guided 10 players to All-America recognition, including Laura D'Alessandro (1990), Stephanie Neill (1991-95), Alexandra Armas (1995, 1998), Laura Philo Diaz (1996, 1997), Marta Prieto (2001), Nuria Clau (2002, 2003) Ashley Hoagland (2005), Mandy Goins (2006, 2007), Natalie Sheary (2008, 2009) and Nannette Hill (2009).

"Just to be a part of the Wake Forest golf tradition is an honor," Dailey said. "You can feel it right away when you step on campus and see the facilities. Golf is a major sport here, just like football and basketball. Trying to build a tradition with the women's team is a challenge I'm enjoying."

"This university has a lot to offer young people, not only from a golf standpoint, but academically," Dailey continued. "Wake Forest is recognized as one of the top private institutions in the nation. There's a family atmosphere here -- from the students, to the faculty, to the other administrators -- there's a closeness here that other universities cannot match."