Upcoming Event: Women's Golf versus Nittany Lion Invitational on September 7, 2026
WGOLF
James Madison
vs Nittany Lion Invitational
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James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Women's Golf
Tommy Baker
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- bakertw@jmu.edu
- Phone:
- 540-568-6988
- Physical Address:
- Bridgeforth B107 (250 Champions Drive) / MSC 2306
Tommy Baker completed his eighth season as the head women's golf coach at James Madison in 2025-26. He was initially hired on June 14, 2018 and received a contract extension on Feb. 27, 2026 through the 2028-29 season.
In his eight seasons with the Dukes, Baker has elevated the women’s golf program to new heights, rewriting the record book and leading a team that finished seventh at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships the year prior to his arrival to the fifth CAA title in program history in 2020-21.
He has led the Dukes to nine team victories and posted the five best team scoring averages in program history.
In 2025-26, Baker returned the Dukes to the winning column, as JMU took home a co-championship at the Elon Invitational (9/16). The Dukes had three top-five finishes overall, which included a fifth place showing at The Southern (9/9) and fourth at the Pirate Collegiate Classic (10/7). JMU's team score of 856 (+4) at the Elon Invitational was the second-lowest 54-hole total in program history. The 2025-26 team also ranked fourth all-time in scoring average, finishing with a mark of 298.56.
Individually, two players ranked inside the top 15 in single-season stroke average in Bella Flores (10th, 74.50) and Grace Petzold (13th, 74.63), while freshman Klára Sionková finished with 79 birdies for a JMU first-year player record. Sionková also posted a par-5 scoring average of 4.9459, also a record. Fellow freshman Emerson Elm posted a par-3 scoring average of 3.1440, ranking sixth all-time in JMU history.
Baker has produced eight all-conference selections in his seven seasons, including Kendall Turner, who was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year following the 2020-21 campaign.
Under his tutelage, Turner blossomed into one of the best players in program history, leaving JMU as the career leader in scoring average (73.68), birdies (375), eagles (8), and rounds played (144). She finished tied for 24th in the 2024 Bermuda Run Regional as an individual, the highest finish for a Duke in a regional in program history.
That season, Baker was named CAA Coach of the Year after guiding a roster without any juniors or seniors to a historic 16-shot, final-round comeback to claim the title as the Dukes earned their third-ever bid to NCAA Regionals.
In 2021-22, Baker led the Dukes to new scoring heights, with players carding four of the five lowest single-season scoring averages ever recorded at JMU. As a team, the Dukes shattered every single-season record, setting a new lowest scoring average (293.03) by more than eight strokes and posting nine team rounds of par or better, having recorded just four such rounds in all of JMU history prior to the season.
Baker, the sixth head coach in program history, arrived in Harrisonburg after serving as an assistant coach at CSU for a wildly successful 2017-18 campaign. The Rams took third place at the Mountain West Championship -- their highest finish since 2010 -- and junior Katrina Prendergast set the program record for single-season scoring average.
Prior to his work in Fort Collins, Baker racked up nine years of head coaching experience at the Division II level, building Coker College from a new program into a regional contender before turning Saint Leo into a top-10 program on the national stage.
In four seasons at Saint Leo, Baker coached three Women's Golf Coaches' Association All-Americans and led the way as the Lions dropped their team stroke average from 309.59 in his first season to 297.64 in 2016-17, his final year. That season saw Saint Leo's 74.46 adjusted scoring average rank fourth in all of Division II.
Under Baker, Saint Leo qualified for the NCAA South Super Regional in all four seasons, while the Lions earned their first-ever bid to the national championships in 2015-16, taking home a tie for fourth place.
With the Lions, he also coached then-senior Marie Coors to the individual title at the 2017 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship after she spent much of 2016-17 as the top-ranked player in Division II. Coors racked up a multitude of accolades, including 2017 WGCA Division II Player of the Year, the NCAA Elite 90 Award and Honda Division II Golfer of the Year honors.
At Coker, Baker coached the men's team beginning in 2008 before starting the women's program in 2010-11. After just three seasons leading the women, the Cobras tallied three top-five finishes in 2012-13, earning their first all-conference selection while seeing three players named WGCA All-American Scholars.
Baker started his coaching career at his alma mater, UNC Pembroke, serving as an assistant coach beginning in 2006 before starting at Coker College as the head men's and women's golf coach in 2008.
He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science at UNC Pembroke in 2006, adding his masters in physical education with a concentration in sports administration in 2008.
In his eight seasons with the Dukes, Baker has elevated the women’s golf program to new heights, rewriting the record book and leading a team that finished seventh at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships the year prior to his arrival to the fifth CAA title in program history in 2020-21.
He has led the Dukes to nine team victories and posted the five best team scoring averages in program history.
In 2025-26, Baker returned the Dukes to the winning column, as JMU took home a co-championship at the Elon Invitational (9/16). The Dukes had three top-five finishes overall, which included a fifth place showing at The Southern (9/9) and fourth at the Pirate Collegiate Classic (10/7). JMU's team score of 856 (+4) at the Elon Invitational was the second-lowest 54-hole total in program history. The 2025-26 team also ranked fourth all-time in scoring average, finishing with a mark of 298.56.
Individually, two players ranked inside the top 15 in single-season stroke average in Bella Flores (10th, 74.50) and Grace Petzold (13th, 74.63), while freshman Klára Sionková finished with 79 birdies for a JMU first-year player record. Sionková also posted a par-5 scoring average of 4.9459, also a record. Fellow freshman Emerson Elm posted a par-3 scoring average of 3.1440, ranking sixth all-time in JMU history.
Baker has produced eight all-conference selections in his seven seasons, including Kendall Turner, who was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year following the 2020-21 campaign.
Under his tutelage, Turner blossomed into one of the best players in program history, leaving JMU as the career leader in scoring average (73.68), birdies (375), eagles (8), and rounds played (144). She finished tied for 24th in the 2024 Bermuda Run Regional as an individual, the highest finish for a Duke in a regional in program history.
That season, Baker was named CAA Coach of the Year after guiding a roster without any juniors or seniors to a historic 16-shot, final-round comeback to claim the title as the Dukes earned their third-ever bid to NCAA Regionals.
In 2021-22, Baker led the Dukes to new scoring heights, with players carding four of the five lowest single-season scoring averages ever recorded at JMU. As a team, the Dukes shattered every single-season record, setting a new lowest scoring average (293.03) by more than eight strokes and posting nine team rounds of par or better, having recorded just four such rounds in all of JMU history prior to the season.
Baker, the sixth head coach in program history, arrived in Harrisonburg after serving as an assistant coach at CSU for a wildly successful 2017-18 campaign. The Rams took third place at the Mountain West Championship -- their highest finish since 2010 -- and junior Katrina Prendergast set the program record for single-season scoring average.
Prior to his work in Fort Collins, Baker racked up nine years of head coaching experience at the Division II level, building Coker College from a new program into a regional contender before turning Saint Leo into a top-10 program on the national stage.
In four seasons at Saint Leo, Baker coached three Women's Golf Coaches' Association All-Americans and led the way as the Lions dropped their team stroke average from 309.59 in his first season to 297.64 in 2016-17, his final year. That season saw Saint Leo's 74.46 adjusted scoring average rank fourth in all of Division II.
Under Baker, Saint Leo qualified for the NCAA South Super Regional in all four seasons, while the Lions earned their first-ever bid to the national championships in 2015-16, taking home a tie for fourth place.
With the Lions, he also coached then-senior Marie Coors to the individual title at the 2017 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship after she spent much of 2016-17 as the top-ranked player in Division II. Coors racked up a multitude of accolades, including 2017 WGCA Division II Player of the Year, the NCAA Elite 90 Award and Honda Division II Golfer of the Year honors.
At Coker, Baker coached the men's team beginning in 2008 before starting the women's program in 2010-11. After just three seasons leading the women, the Cobras tallied three top-five finishes in 2012-13, earning their first all-conference selection while seeing three players named WGCA All-American Scholars.
Baker started his coaching career at his alma mater, UNC Pembroke, serving as an assistant coach beginning in 2006 before starting at Coker College as the head men's and women's golf coach in 2008.
He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science at UNC Pembroke in 2006, adding his masters in physical education with a concentration in sports administration in 2008.
| Tommy Baker Coaching File |
|---|
| Alma Mater | North Carolina-Pembroke (2006) |
| Coaching Experience |
|---|
| 2006-08 | Assistant Coach, UNC-Pembroke |
| 2008-13 | Head Coach, Coker College |
| 2013-17 | Head Coach, Saint Leo |
| 2017-18 | Assistant Coach, Colorado State |
| 2018-present | Head Coach, James Madison |
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