Shannon O’Brien, the 2023 ASUN Women's Golf Coach of the Year, begins her 14th year at Lipscomb and her fourth season with the women's golf program and third season as Head Coach prior to the 2024-25 season. O'Brien was the women's golf Assistant Coach during the 2021-22 season. She spent the nine previous years on staff with the Lipscomb women's soccer team with her husband, Kevin O'Brien, the head w
omen's soccer coach.
In the most recent 2023-24 season, the Bisons had yet another impressive season, finishing as the runner-ups at the 2024 ASUN Championship. O'Brien coached Lauren Thompson to back-to-back ASUN Conference Individual Titles as Thompson was the 2024 ASUN Individual medalist. Thompson earned an automatic bid to compete in the 2024 NCAA Championships, playing in the Auburn Regional. In 2024, O'Brien coached Thompson, 2024 ASUN Scholar Athlete of the Year and First Team All-ASUN member, Mary Kate Smith, Third Team All-ASUN member and Zi Yu Foong, ASUN All-Freshman Team and Third Team All-ASUN member.
Stepping into golf, O'Brien kept Lipscomb's winning ways, winning the 2023 ASUN Conference Championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. During 2023, O'Brien coached Mary Kate Smith, the 2023 ASUN Golfer of the Year and Lauren Thompson, the 2023 ASUN Individual Champion as well as four WGCA Scholar All-Americans. Overall, the Bisons put together the best season in 2022-23 that the Lipscomb Women's Golf program has ever seen. During the season, the squad broke nearly every record possible, including its first-ever ASUN Championship, first-ever NCAA Tournament Appearance, the most tournament wins in program history, season scoring average, program high national ranking, pr or better rounds, finish percentage, team low round and low round vs. par, team low 36-hole total and team low 54-hole total. The squad also finished 12th in the nation in overall team GPA.
Prior to her time with the golf program, she spent nine years on staff with the Lipscomb women’s soccer team with her husband, Kevin O’Brien, the head women’s soccer coach. Shannon was an assistant coach, and primarily was responsible in developing the goalkeepers and helping with the program operations. In her time with women’s soccer, they won 6 ASUN championships and as a staff they received the United Soccer Coaches Southeast Regional Staff of the Year award in 2018, after finishing in the top 32 schools competing in the NCAA tournament. In her tenure, three goalkeepers earned ASUN standout achievements, including 4 ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year awards and an ASUN Tournament MVP award. Additionally, two of the goalkeepers went on to play professionally.
O’Brien, originally from Phoenix, Ariz., had a standout soccer career at the University of Arizona. O’Brien is in the U of A record books for the fewest goals allowed in a career, an All-Pac-10 academic team selection, and was the Pac-10 Leader in Saves her senior year (109 saves for the 2001 season) and named Arizona’s MVP.
Following her collegiate career, O’Brien played for the USL W-League with the Charlotte Lady Eagles for five years, serving as team captain for two. Shannon helped lead her team to multiple playoff championships including one National Championship game. Additionally, Shannon traveled with the Charlotte Eagles to multiple countries on international playing tours in Singapore, Thailand, and Germany.
In the summer of 2014, Shannon was selected as the WPSL Southeast All-Conference Goalkeeper while playing for the Nashville Wolves. In the spring of 2015, Shannon was selected by the NWSL pro women's team, New Jersey Sky Blue, to participate in pre-season training camp.
Previous coaching stops in soccer include UNC Charlotte and Pfeiffer University while also serving on the goalkeeping staff for the Arizona, and North Carolina Olympic Development Program. Shannon was part of the Conference Carolina Championship team in 2008 at Pfeiffer, where the Falcon’s goalkeeper was also selected for the all- tournament team. Shannon has shared that the mentality of a goalkeeper is not all that different from that of golfer, in that, mental focus and the ability to be composed and maintain concentration while making critical score changing plays is similar.
O’Brien holds two U.S. Golf Teaching Federation coaching certificates and grew up playing golf since childhood. Shannon at the age of 11 was identified for her natural swing and was featured in a professional golf teaching video, and later in life went on to play varsity golf in high school alongside of playing elite club soccer. Additional golf stops for Shannon includes working at the Charlotte Country Club in North Carolina as a golf shop associate, managing tee times, and merchandise. Additionally, O’Brien holds a NSCAA Youth Module, and NSCAA Goalkeeper I & II Diplomas and co-directs the Lipscomb Women’s Soccer Camps, and the Lipscomb Women’s Golf Camps.
Shannon completed a Master of Divinity at Lipscomb University in 2020 and has a heart in helping people navigate the intersection of life and faith. She believes sport is a vehicle to journey with others and help breathe encouragement and belief into students as the chase their dreams and develop through their college years. O'Brien served as the Lipscomb Athletics Director of Women's Spiritual Formation for 10 years prior to becoming a head coach.
Shannon and her husband Kevin married in 2003 while both playing professional soccer for the Charlotte Eagles organization. The couple has two kids, Keely and Keegan.
