MOBILE, Ala. – Longtime LSU women’s golf coach Karen Bahnsen was named to the 2015 class of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame announced here on Thursday at a press conference.
Bahnsen and the members of the class will be inducted in ceremonies in late April.
The Mobile native is in her 31st year as the head coach of the Tigers and is the dean of Southeastern Conference golf coaches.
She is already a member of the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame and she is part of the first Mother-Daughter combination in the Mobile Hall as her mom, June Mayson, was inducted in 1999 in the sport of golf.
“Being part of the first Mother-Daughter combination in the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame is something amazing,” said Bahnsen. “I’m very excited about this opportunity. It is a wonderful thing to be inducted into your home city Hall of Fame.”
Bahnsen had excellent credentials in Mobile, before even beginning her long successful time at LSU. She lettered in golf at McGill-Toolen High School and led the school to two state titles and in 1979 won the state individual championship and the National High School Tournament.
She was LSU’s first golf signee as the school began to put together its women’s golf program in the 1979-80 season. She was part of LSU teams that participated in the AIAW Tournament and the 1982 NCAA Tournament.
After graduation she was named the head coach of the women’s golf program and began building the program that is nationally respected among her peers. She has taken 20 teams to NCAA Regionals and 11 teams to the NCAA Women’s Championship tournament, posting seven top 10 finishes.
In both 2011 and 2012, the Lady Tigers brought home third place in the championships and freshman Austin Ernst captured the 2011 individual NCAA Championships. This season, she has two team wins and has her team ranked sixth in the country.
Over her career she has coached 21 All-Americans, 47 All-SEC selections with 38 team tournament titles and 41 individual tournament championships won by golfers she has coached. Off-the-course, there has been 89 SEC Academic Honor Roll selections and 29 WGCA Academic Scholars. In 2010, Bahnsen’s golf team was recognized as just one of three teams at LSU to earn an NCAA Public Recognition Award for exceptional work in the classroom.
Earlier this year, her team was recognized as having the highest women’s GPA of any athletic team at LSU.
Bahnsen’s hall of fame Mom, June, is a native of Mobile. She won the State of Alabama Women’s Golf Championship four times (’57, ’59, ’62 and ’74). June is also a three time State Senior Women’s Champion (’84, ’87 and ’88). She served as LPGA professional teacher at the Azalea City Golf Course in Mobile. In 1986, June Mayson became the women’s golf coach at the University of South Alabama. In four years she moved her team from a ranking of 84th in the nation to 20th and led the team to its first ever championship.