This year, the University of Washington women's golf team won its first NCAA national championship since the program's inception in 1974. Mary Lou Mulflur -- or ML, as many call her -- has been the head coach of the team for 33 years. I was fortunate enough to play for her from 2007 to 2011, and excitedly watched the action at Eugene Country Club as the Huskies battled defending champion Stanford in the final round for the title.
I talked to ML two days after their win, and she gave me some insight to the team's success over the last four years, what she hopes for in the future and thoughts about Washington's new athletic director, Jennifer Cohen, who is the second female to hold that position at the university.
Anya Alvarez: Coach, how are you feeling after such a crazy couple of days?
Mary Lou Mulflur: I think I am in a state of shock a little bit. I keep getting phone calls and texts of congratulations, and someone recognized me at the airport this morning congratulating me, which was pretty awesome. A couple of the players went to get Thai food at Thai Tom on University Ave. last night after we arrived back from Eugene, and some people in the restaurant applauded them. There's so much pride in the university.
AA: Did you have any expectations going into the week that you'd win the national championship?
MLM: We didn't really talk about winning the national championship. Our real goal was to have more fun than any other team -- and honestly, had we been eliminated before the final round, I guarantee we would have had more fun than whoever won that week. With carpool karaoke, throwing the football around, having dinner with alums and family, it was just overall a great week. The whole mindset was just to keep it really light throughout and enjoy the present moment. Once we got into the final match there was a ton of media attention, which was really fun for the girls since our sport doesn't really get that much TV time as it is.
AA: Any theme songs in particular that you sang during carpool karaoke?
MLM: I don't know names of songs, you'll have to get to the team on that. But, I can tell you on Wednesday night we were singing, "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" during the whole car ride home really, really loud -- and very off key.
AA: Your team has gotten so much better since I left in 2011. What has changed in your recruiting process?
MLM: You know, it wasn't really a surprise that we won. We've always been pretty good in the past. In the early 2000s we finished 6th in a national championship and 14th in one year. We didn't just come out of the woodwork. We struggled when Paige Mackenzie* left in 2006. When we got SooBin Kim, Jennifer Yang and Cyd Okino, that was when our program rebounded, that was our rebound.
We've gotten pickier about our players and what it is we look for. We look for a certain profile now, and not just scores because we know that team chemistry is so important and essential in its success. Focusing on that has really allowed us to grow.
We definitely had growing pains because we had two seniors and three freshman in our main lineup, and in the fall when we started the chemistry was awkward because the seniors are in different places than the freshman. Also, there was no conduit of a sophomore and junior to tie them together, so there were some growing pains. I noticed in the winter when they started doing team workouts together and practice wasn't mandatory that things started to shift. We also went on a short winter retreat that really helped, and by that time the freshman began feeling more comfortable in college and the seniors started understanding their role as team leaders better. Things just started to gel as the year continued.
* Paige Mackenzie played seven seasons on the LPGA and was ranked number in the nation during her senior year 2006.
AA: I would like to think that when I came to watch the team in Dallas just a few weeks before regionals, that that was the turning point for your season. Would you agree?
MLM: (Laughs) You know, in some ways it was. Up until Dallas Sarah Rhee did not play consistently so we flipped back and forth between her and Clementine. After Dallas though, we put Sarah in the lineup for good, and once Sarah knew that this was it and there was no going back, she really hammered down and was clutch the rest of the season.
AA: You had so many clutch moments throughout the week. Sarah Rhee came back from 3 down to get Washington into the final championship round; Ying Lou holed out from 61 yards to win her match on the final day, and Julianne Alvarez fought so hard to the very end in her final match. What was it like to watch all of it unfold?
MLM: We just had this feeling that someone was going to hole out during the tournament going into the week, and three out of our five players had hole outs which is really unheard of for one team. There was something special taking place on the last day, and I believed in our team, and the fact they all believed in each other really played into the final outcome.
AA: I have to mention freshman Julianne Alvarez because obviously I connect with her because of the last name. Towards the end, it was up to her at the end if your team was going to win the championship and she pulled through for the team. Do you think you're going to recruit more Alvarezs now?
MLM: (Laughs) I'll take all the Alvarezs I can get. Why wouldn't I? So far so good!
AA: You played golf at UW and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. What for you makes this job so special and worth all the hard work to stay for 33 years?
MLM: I've enjoyed every moment. Of course there are moments you love more than others, such as when I had to pull you off the golf course at Washington State's tournament for a bad attitude. I didn't love that, but I needed do it. The joy of watching your student-athletes grow up in front of your eyes is so just so much fun. For instance, Sarah Rhee, from the fall to now, she is just a different person and player and it's unbelievable the transformation she went through in such a short amount of time.
AA: What do you think your greatest strength as a coach is?
MLM: Honestly, it's my ability to change and to not assume I know everything. I've never been afraid to try something new and evolve. And once I think I have it figured out I probably don't. Especially in the last 8-10 years of being willing to change and look at things differently has certainly become one of my strongest traits as a coach.
AA: What do you think you need to work on to continue to grow as a coach?
MLM: (Laughs) Probably recruiting more Alvarez!. But honestly, building relationships with my players and being more open and accessible to them. Obviously there's a generational difference with them, but having my associate head coach Andrea has really helped since she's closer in age to them. But really peeling my back my own layers so they can get a better sense of who I am has help built trust and openness. I feel so close to the freshman more so than I have in the past because I've tried working on that.
AA: Andrea came in 2008 during my sophomore year. I always viewed her as someone very relatable because we were so close in age. What has having someone younger done for the team's growth?
MLM: First off, I always tell people that Andrea could start a conversation with a chair. She just has the ability to connect with people in a way that is really cool to watch. The freshman see her as a big sister and it's easier for them to open up to her. The energy that she brings to the team is amazing and everyone loves her. Importantly, she's evolved so much since she came and I'm a a better coach because of her as well. She is going to be a great head coach one day.
AA: I think she's helped with the evolution in another area for the team, and that's with style. I look at what the girls get to wear now compared to what I did when I played for you and before you allowed Andrea to take over uniform decisions. Can we just address that for a moment?
MLM: (Laughs) Yeah, I am not in charge of picking out uniforms anymore at all. I pass everything on to Andrea on that one. Sometimes I'll show her something and say, what do you think and she'll say, "yes" or "no." Having her around though has taken a lot of pressure off me because now she has to be responsible for those decisions. So yes, it's gotten a lot better.
AA: You also have David Elaimy as the girl's mental performance coach. What role has he played in the success of the team?
MLM: I call him our secret weapon. He has helped these girls in a way they won't realize until they're older. He's been able to get them to understand their fears over the ball and to figure out why they're not performing to their potential. When you think about the pressure shots we had to hit this week, especially in the final round, the work that he has done with us has everything to do with our success. You don't stand over the shots the freshman stood over without needing to be being confident. He told them, "You're going to take some punches out there." So he gave us tools on how to respond to them.
AA: Recently, Jennifer Cohen was hired as the new athletic director at Washington. Were you were excited to see a female take on that role?
MLM: Yes, very, and you know, the university just hired a female president for the time in its history as well and this is our second female athletic director. I've known Jennifer for 15 years since she came to the university. She is one of my all time favorite people and I know we got the right person for the job. They had a welcoming back party for us when we pulled in on Thursday and there were about 100 people there. She was one the first people to come up to me to congratulate us and I said, "This championship is for you and I hope your first day on the job has ended well." I couldn't be happier for her and she just gets us because she knows what it means to be a Huskie. She totally gets what we're about and that is going to help us in the future.
AA: What challenges do you think she's going to face?
MLM: Well, we're in debt like most other schools. Managing finances is such a huge issue and it's changing so fast and what's happening with student-athletes now is great but it costs a lot of money and trying to figure out to the best we can without putting ourselves in a big hole is our biggest challenge. Nobody is more up to the task than she is.
AA: Besides winning the NCCA championship, what is your greatest moment in coaching history?
MLM: Well, winning the championship. How do you top that? It still hasn't sunk in yet, but this is something no one can take away from us. People didn't expect us to win, so it really is a game changer for us. I mean, I get to throw the first pitch in the Mariners game, which you know for me is a dream come true. To receive recognition for our hard work is just incredible.
AA: You know, I honestly thought you were going to say when I verbally committed that that would have been your greatest moment in coaching history.
MLM: Well you didn't let me give me my second best moment. A distant second, but yes a great moment (laughs).
AA: What do you see for future of team?
MLM: Now, I think we're going to capture the attention of players who I don't think we would have gotten before. We took down the defending national champions, and it was all on the TV, so anyone who never cared about women's college golf before is going to see all of that. It's so good for women's golf and it shows that we can play great golf. When our senior Charlotte Thompson was being interviewed after the championship she said, "You know, maybe we don't hit it as far as the guys, but we can score like them." I think that's an accurate statement.
AA: Well coach, I am so excited for you and the team. Do you think it's possible for me to get eligibility to play for you again?
MLM: What was that?! Sorry, I gotta go!