Jesse Lawley was named head coach for the Lipscomb women’s golf program in the summer of 2017. A native of Rainbow City, Alabama, Lawley took over the team following two seasons directing the Berry College program in Rome, Georgia to new heights.
Lawley's fifth season leading the Herd saw an incredible showing from the Bisons under her tutelage. The squad kicked off the season with a program record-low score through 36 holes at 578 (+10) in the first tournament of the season. With her leadership, the squad finished the season with five top-three finishes including tying for first overall in the Terrier Intercollegiate and the program's highest finish at the ASUN Championship to date with their third-place finish.
Individually, the Bisons collected a set of historic accolades accolades including the program's first-ever Freshman of the Year title for Lauren Thompson and spots on the ASUN All-Conference Second Team for Thompson and Siarra Stout, the first-ever all-conference selections in the program's Division-I era. Following Lawley's set of values, the Bisons had five players selected to the WGCA All-American team for the second season in a row, this year's Bison representation included Lauren Thompson, Siarra Stout, Mary Kate Smith, Kaylee Wu, and Ally Williams.
With a condensed 2020-21 season, Lawley guided the Bisons to top-five finishes in two of the six tournaments at which they competed. The first of these was a fourth-place finish in the Lady Bison Bay Point Classic with a team score of 629 after two rounds, the third round of the tournament was canceled due to weather.
The Bisons ended the 2020-21 season with their highest finish at the time in the ASUN Championship with a total score of 911, 26 strokes better than their previous best. The Purple and Gold shot their lowest score in program history in the final round with a 297 to close out the tournament.
In Lawley's third year at the helm, The Lipscomb women's golf team was having a historic season in its 2019-20 campaign, but unfortunately with the outbreak of COVID-19, the successful season was brought to an abrupt end.
The Bisons were able to start off the fall season on a high note by taking home the team title in their first tournament of the year at the MSU Greenbrier Invitational. Lipscomb led the tournament through all three rounds and claimed its first team title since 2013 when it won the Big Blue Intercollegiate.
After finishing in eighth in their next tournament at the Bubba Burger Jacksonville Classic, the Bisons returned to championship form and won their second tournament of the fall at the Butler Fall Invitational.
Lipscomb would carry that momentum into its final two tournaments of the fall by recording back-to-back second place finishes at the Lady Red Wolves Classic and the Town and Country Invitational.
Although the season ended too soon, Lipscomb and some of its players put up impressive numbers and were able to rewrite some of the programs records, including:
- Lowest 18-hole Score (Team) - 285 at 2019 Town and Country Invitational
- Lowest 36-hole Score (Team) - 592 at 2019 Lady Red Wolves Classic
- Lowest 54-hole Score (Team) - 881 at 2019 Lady Red Wolves Classic
- Best Score In-Relation-To-Par (Team) - 1-over, 289 (Par 72) at 2019 Lady Red Wolves Classic
Under her tutelage at Berry College, the Vikings collected their first tournament win in school history and rose in the rankings from No. 44 all the way to the top-5 nationally. Her efforts led her to being named the 2017 Southern Athletic Association Coach of the Year.
While at Berry, she coached WGCA All-American Sydney Weaver to SAA Player of the Year honors and a 7th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Women’s Championships. She also led the program to five, top-5 finishes, had two players named to the Ping All-Region team in 2017 and coached SAA Freshman of the Year Jorie Hodapp. Her teams were also highly successful in the classroom as she had four selections in both2016 and 2017 to the WGCA All-American Scholar Athlete team.
Before leading the Viking program, Lawley competed for the UAB women’s golf team where she served as team captain for the Blazers during her senior season after transferring from Birmingham Southern. While competing for Birmingham Southern, she was named to the 2012 SAA All-Conference team for the Panthers.
A hard worker in the classroom as well as on the course, Lawley was no stranger to academic honors as a player as she earned UAB’s Collat School of Business Outstanding GPA in Management Award and graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Science in Business Management. She was a two-time Conference USA Academic Honor Roll honoree and was named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll on three separate occasions.
Lawley is very close with her family including parents Jim and Jill Lawley and sister Ella.
