PSU coach named Big Sky Golf Coach of the Year

Women’s golf head coach Kathleen Takaishi was named the Big Sky Conference’s 2009–10 Golf Coach of the Year after leading the Portland State golf program to its fifth conference title last week.

Coaches throughout the league voted for their choice, and Takaishi said that being chosen Coach of the Year by her peers “is a great honor.” This is her first such recognition.

The selection came after Takaishi and the Vikings won the Big Sky Conference Championship, held April 19–21 at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, Ariz. It is the fifth championship in eight seasons for Portland State golf.

Takaishi directed an injury-ridden Vikings team through a 2009–10 season that, at one point in March, featured just four active players. At last week’s Big Sky Championship, all five Portland State players competing finished in the top 20, with freshman Britney Yada leading the Vikings pack with a tie for third place.

Takaishi became the Vikings head coach in 2008 and led her team to the Big Sky Championship tournament that year, where the Vikings finished fifth.

Before coming to Portland State, Takaishi was an assistant coach at Oregon State and UC Riverside. As a player, she was an All-American and lettered four times. She is currently Oregon State’s record holder in single-season scoring average, career scoring average, total rounds played, low-54-hole total and top-10 finishes in a season and a career.

Next up for Takaishi and the Vikings golfers is the NCAA West Regional Golf Championship at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif., on May 6–8. It will be the fifth time Portland State has competed in the NCAA Regionals and first since 2008.