Search for next Griz golf coach narrowed to four
8/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Golf
Aug. 1, 2011
The University of Montana is one step closer to naming a new women's golf coach. The seven-member search committee, composed of both university and community members, has narrowed the field of 36 applicants down to the final four. The candidates begin on-campus interviews Monday, Aug. 1.
The four candidates making the final cut were John Cleary, Joshua Fosdick, Emily Milberger and Michelle Murphy.
"I am very excited about our pool of candidates," senior associate athletic director and search committee chair Jean Gee said.
"I am pleased to see with every search we do the name recognition The University of Montana and Grizzly Athletics bring and the caliber of applicants we continue to attract. This search proved no different as can be evidenced by the credentials of the candidates."
Cleary is currently an assistant women's golf coach at Texas Tech and the former head men's golf coach at Northern Illinois.
Fosdick, a former professional golfer on the NGA Hooters Tour, is currently an assistant coach for the women's program at Oklahoma State.
Milberger, who played and coached at the one of the best programs in the country at Oklahoma, was most recently the interim women's golf coach at SMU.
Murphy was the head women's coach at Portland from 2004 until last spring, when the school opted to drop both men's and women's golf programs in favor of women's crew.
The four candidates will have a full itinerary once they reach Missoula. Each candidate will spend a little more than 24 hours in town and will be toured around campus as well as go through a series of interviews and meetings with university staff as well as the current team.
Junior Olivia Weber, the team's representative on the search committee, said, "The team and I are looking forward to meeting with the candidates this week. We're extremely excited to see the new direction our future coach will take us."
The new coach will replace Joanne Steele, who was hired at North Florida following her 15-year tenure with the Grizzlies.
The final hiring decision is expected to be made by mid August, with a goal of having the coach on campus by the first day of the fall semester.
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