Dawn Shockley enters her third season as the head coach of the Oregon State women’s golf team coming off two of the best years in program history.
Shockley led the Beavers to even more success during her second season as the head coach in 2017-18:
- Set the program’s single-season scoring average record (73.52).
- Posted the best (-14, Westbrook Spring Invitational) and second best (-6, Ron Moore Invitational) three-round scores in program history.
- Advanced to NCAA Regionals in back-to-back years for the first time since 2000-01.
- Recorded five consecutive top-5 finishes during the spring season.
- Ellie Slama broke Oregon State’s single-season scoring average record (72.79).
- Broke Oregon State’s senior (Susie Cavanagh 74.59), junior (Olivia Benzin 74.52) and freshman (Ellie Slama 72.79) single-season scoring average records.
- Ellie Slama (first, 72.79), Nicole Schroeder (third, 73.93), Olivia Benzin (fifth, 74.52) and Susie Cavanagh (seventh, 74.59) all finished in the top seven on Oregon State’s single-season scoring average list.
- Olivia Benzin and Nicole Schroeder both set Oregon State’s single record with a 6-under 66.
- Ellie Slama (Ron Moore Invitational) and Nicole Schroeder (NCAA Regionals) both won individual titles.
- Ellie Slama set Oregon State’s three-round record with an 11-under 205.
- Nicole Schroeder became the fourth Oregon State golfer to advance to NCAA Championships after shooting a 10-under 206 at NCAA Regionals.
- Olivia Benzin (74.56) and Nicole Schroeder (74.85) are 1-2 on Oregon State’s career scoring average list (must have played 40 rounds and two full seasons to qualify).
- Olivia Benzin, Susie Cavanagh and Nicole Schroeder all received Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention recognition.
During Shockley’s first season as head coach in 2016-17, the Beavers had several records and highlights:
- Set the school record for season scoring average (74.28).
- Won the title at the Rose City Collegiate, the 11th team title in program history.
- Recorded four top-5 finishes.
- Defeated Oregon at the Elite 8 Match Play.
- Finished ahead of Oregon at the Pac-12 Championship to earn a point in the Civil War Series.
- Finished in eighth place at the Pac-12 Championship, equaling their best finish at the conference tournament since 1998.
- Advanced to the NCAA Regional Championships for the second time since 2006 and the first time since 2012.
- Placed seventh at the NCAA Regionals, the highest finish ever for the program, and ahead of seven ranked teams, including No. 2 UCLA.
- Shot a 10-under 278 in the final round of the NCAA Regionals, five strokes better than the previous school record.
- Olivia Benzin set the Oregon State single-season scoring average record with a 73.62.
- Elyse Smidinger set the Oregon State single-round record with a 5-under 67.
- Susie Cavanagh became the third Oregon State golfer to advance to the NCAA National Championships as an individual (Kathleen Takaishi, 1999 and Anica Yoo, 2015).
- Two student-athletes earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors, as Elyse Smidinger was named to the Second Team and Olivia Benzin received Honorable Mention recognition.
Shockley served as Oregon State’s assistant coach for two years before taking over as the head coach, and helped the Beavers set several school records and win a team title during that time.
During the 2015-16 season, Oregon State finished second at the Rose City Collegiate and third at the Bay Area Intercollegiate, while breaking the program’s scoring average record from the previous season with a 74.72. The team set the three-round school record with a 9-over 873 at the Rose City Collegiate and shattered it in the spring with a 4-over 868 at the Westbrook Spring Invitational.
Four golfers finished in the top-10 on Oregon State’s all-time single-season scoring average list, including Haley Nist, who set the school record with a 74.43, and Olivia Benzin, who had the best mark ever by a freshman with a 75.43.
Three student-athletes earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors, led by Ashlee Pickerell who was recognized for academic achievement by the conference for the third consecutive year. Sophomores Hannah Swanson and Nist both received Pac-12 All-Academic honors in their first eligible year.
In Shockley’s first season as an assistant coach (2014-15), the Beavers won the team title at the Oregon State Invitational, set the school record for season scoring average (75.00) and equaled their highest finish at the Pac-12 Championship since 1998 with an eighth-place showing.
Individually, Anica Yoo set the school’s single season scoring average record (74.71) and became just the second Oregon State golfer to advance to the NCAA National Championships after posting a school-record 4-under 212 at the NCAA Regionals with Shockley assisting her all three rounds.
Chelsea Saelee set the school record for a junior with a scoring average of 74.83 and Pickerell was selected to the Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team.
Oregon State’s women’s golf program finished runner-up for the Beaver Cup, which is a point system designed to reward teams for their GPA’s, community service hours, attendance at mandatory and non-mandatory life skills events and SAAC meetings.
During her playing career at the University of Denver, Shockley recorded 11 top-10 finishes, including two individual wins. A three-time Sun Belt All-Conference selection (2006, 2007 and 2009), she won the 2009 NCAA East Regional Championship and earned All-American Honorable Mention recognition.
Shockley helped lead Denver to sixth and fifth place finishes, respectively, at the NCAA Championships in 2007 and 2008.
She was a two-year team captain and posted a four-year scoring average of 75.67 for the Pioneers with 23 rounds under-par and five rounds in the 60’s. She also earned Academic All-American honors in 2006 and served on Denver’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Following her graduation from the University of Denver, Shockley played professional golf on the LPGA Futures Tour (Symetra Tour). She earned six top-10 finishes and tied for fourth at the Riviera Nayarit Classic and the Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship.
In 2012 Shockley qualified for the Ladies European Tour (LET) and posted a career-best tie for 24th place finish at the Deloitte Ladies Open in Holland in 2013.
She also worked as a professional LPGA caddy for Becky Morgan and Moira Dunn for nearly two years. As a caddy, she assisted with course management, player management, post-round analysis, practice planning and swing maintenance.
A native of Denver, Colo., Shockley graduated from Denver in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in geography.
