Williams' Debut Year Off to Strong Start
Nov 13 | Women's Golf
By Frank Kineavy
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- This fall has marked a new era in Rutgers women's golf. On Aug. 7, Athletic Director Julie Hermann named Kari Williams the program's second coach since 1997. Her first fall season has lain the groundwork for a successful long-term tenure `On the Banks,' highlighted by a trio of second-place finishes at St. John's Intercollegiate, Bucknell Invitational and the Rutgers Invitational.
Williams was born to coach. She first made a name for herself in the coaching ranks not on the golf course, but on the hardwood, coaching the Gilroy (Calif.) High School girls' basketball team to three consecutive Division 1 Central Coast Section final four appearances while also overseeing the boys' and girls' golf teams. That variety, Williams feels, deepened her coaching philosophy and helped her become a better communicator with her players.
"I think my experiences coaching different sports and boys and girls helped me improve my coaching and apply those lessons across the sports," she said of her time coaching high school. "The change of sports also allowed me to take a break and focus on a different sport that is coached a very different way."
Williams, who arrived at Rutgers after transforming Columbia University women's golf into an Ivy League powerhouse, inherited two promising players in sophomore Taylor Clark and freshman Emily Mills to begin her tenure with the Scarlet Knights.
With this being her first year, Mills and Clark are two players Williams is using for the foundation for establishing the Rutgers women's golf team as a force on the links.
"Emily and Taylor were our leading scorers this fall. Both of these players have made real contributions to our success," said Williams.
Mills, a New Jersey native, entered her first year at Rutgers after a stellar career at Colts Neck High School. She was ranked No. 3 in the state for the class of 2014, and won the State Group Championship to accompany a plethora of titles on the junior circuit.
"Junior golf in New Jersey has taught me the values of patience, teamwork, and perseverance," Mills said. "But high school taught me the value of each individual stroke. Even if you are not playing well, you still have to fight for every stroke for the team."
Being that she was ranked 36th nationally, she had her choice of schools to pick, but she opted for Rutgers for a number of reasons.
"It's outstanding both academically and athletically, I was really interested in competing in the Big Ten Conference, and loved that I could do so close to home," Mills said. "And when I came on my unofficial visit, I met the team and could really see myself as a part of it. They are amazing people."
One of those future teammates who made an immediate impression is Clark, a Rochester, Mich. native. Being from the Great Lakes State, Clark molded her smooth swing not on the links, but on the pond. She grew up playing hockey with her family and serving to her father on the tennis court.
"Swinging a tennis racket and shooting a hockey puck are similar motions to the golf swing," said Clark.
That swing has led her to a new golfing environment in New Jersey, where she is adjusting to her new coach. The relationship has benefited Clark's overall game by pinpointing the areas she needs to improve on.
"She points out the tendencies that she sees in our game and tailors our practices so that we can focus on those areas," Clark said.
In high school, not only was Clark a qualifier for the Callaway Junior World Tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif., but she also designed and marketed a purse to benefit the Gift of Live Foundation in Michigan, which is a part of the Donate Life Initiative for organ donation.
"I was looking for a way to get involved in my community, and I wanted to raise awareness," said Clark. "The project was dedicated to my aunt Dianne, who was an organ donor."
Mills, Clark and their teammates will look to build on a strong end of a fall season as they tee off the spring in March at the Kiawah Island Invitational in South Carolina.
Players Mentioned
