Robbie Davis

The 2012-13 season is Robbie Davis’ 17th as head coach of the Florida Southern women’s golf team, making him the dean of Sunshine State Conference women’s golf coaches. During his first 16 years at Florida Southern, Davis guided the Moccasins to four NCAA Division II national titles, five national runner-up finishes, three third-place finishes, and 13 trips to the national finals overall. He’s taken Florida Southern to NCAA postseason play, either at the regional or national level, 15 consecutive years. That represents the longest current streak in the country at the Division II level.

All four of Florida Southern’s national championships have come under Davis, as have all five of the program’s runner-up finishes. Beginning in 1998, his first full season as head coach, the Moccasins began a streak of seven straight first- or second-place finishes, a feat surpassed by only one other women’s golf program at any collegiate level. Three of the Moccasins’ national championships came during that seven-year span, with FSC bringing home the title in 2000, 2001, and 2002. They added their fourth national championship in 2007, the fifth most for any women’s golf team in any NCAA division.

During Davis’ tenure, the Moccasins have also had five individual national champions in addition to their four team championships. Shanna Nagy won the title in 1998 (after also winning in 1996 under former coach Lois Webb), before Lisa Cave won medalist honors in 1999 and 2000. Jana Peterkova then gave Davis and Florida Southern five straight individual champions by winning the 2001 and 2002 national tournaments.

Even in the three seasons Florida Southern didn’t make it to the national finals as a team, Davis still had at least one player qualify as an individual. In 1997, when Davis took over in the middle of the year, three of his players earned individual bids, with Nagy finishing as the national runner-up. In 2006, Lindsey Bergeon also finished as national runner-up after earning an individual bid, as did Heather Burgner in 2008.

Altogether, Davis has had 12 different golfers finish in the top five of the NCAA National Finals, and the Lady Mocs have had at least one in the top ten during every year of their existence. The totals include five NCAA medalists, seven runners-up, and five third-place finishers, and no Division II coach has had more individual champions than Davis.

Under their current head coach, the Moccasins have also dominated the national poll, having never been ranked below #5 in the last 15 years. Even more recognition has come from Golf Digest, as the publication recently listed Florida Southern as one of only two Division II schools in the country ranked among its top 60 women’s golf programs, and one of only three in the top 100. That puts FSC in the top five percent overall.

What the Moccasins have done is even more amazing considering the competition they face in their own conference. Since the NCAA split its college division postseason into separate Division II and Division III tournaments in 2000, a team from the Sunshine State Conference has won the national title every year; and in 10 of those national tournaments, an SSC school has also been the runner-up.

Even against that type of competition, Davis still finds a way for Florida Southern to normally come out on top. The Moccasins have won a total of 48 tournaments under Davis, including 25 in the last six years. Among their top showings in 2011-12 were Florida Southern’s third NCAA South Region title, and six runner-up finishes, including the NCAA National Finals.

The 2007 national championship team may have been the best team Davis has coached. Considering it was preceded by three other national championships, there’s at least room for debate. Nevertheless, the ’06-’07 team finished first or tied for first in eight of the 11 tournaments in which they played, setting a school record for wins in a season. They swept through the postseason, and finished behind only three other Division II schools all year long. It was no surprise then, that four of his players that year were named to the NGCA All-American team.

Altogether, Davis has had 40 All-Americans, with seven players winning that honor at least three times. Of that number, 24 have been First Team selections, 12 were Second Team and four were honorable mention. Two years ago, the Moccasins had three First Team All-Americans (Marianne Andersson, M.J. Audette and Emily Flanigan), the fourth time under Davis the Moccasins had three or more First Team selections. Last year, Audette and Megan Kiley became the latest Florida Southern golfers honored as NGCA All-Americans, with Audette making it for the third time in her career.

The 2012 season also marked the 14th year in a row Davis had at least two All-Americans, and the Mocs have had one or more every year since Davis became coach. In all but two of those seasons, Davis has had at least one First Team selection, and they’ve also started each season with at least one returning All-American, including this season with Kiley now a senior.

Several of the stand-outs under Davis have gone to enjoy professional careers as well, including 2011 graduate Emily Flanigan and 2012 graduate M.J. Audette. Both players are now on the LPGA Symetra Tour (formerly known as the Futures Tour). The list includes Heather Burgner, a 3-time All-American for the Moccasins from 2006-09; Jackie Barenborg, a 2-time All-American from 2005-08; and 4-time All-American Lindsey Bergeon, who also played at FSC from 2005-08.  Another Florida Southern graduate, Kim Goedecke, has been on the tour since 2006.

Five Moccasin golfers have been named the NCAA Division II National Player-of-the-Year with Davis as their coach, most recently Pamela Feggans in 2005. Davis has also had two National Freshmen-of-the-Year, with Silvie Dittertova winning that honor in 2009, and Rachel Bell winning it in 2001.

In addition to winning the NGCA Freshman-of-the-Year award in 2011, Bell was also the NGCA Player-of-the-Year, and the Sunshine State Conference Female Athlete-of-the-Year as well. She’s one of five Lady Mocs named the SSC Golfer-of-the-Year under Davis, with Heather Burgner claiming the award most recently in 2009. No other women’s golf program in the SSC has had as many Player-of-the-Year awards as the Moccasins have had under Davis.

Florida Southern has also seen two of its women’s golfers listed as Honda Award finalists, an honor given to the top NCAA female athlete of the year. Lisa Cave made that prestigious list in 2000, and Jana Peterkova made it in 2002.

In addition to the individual honors won by his players, Davis has been named GolfWeek Magazine National Coach-of-the-Year three times (2000, 2001, and 2002), as well as the NGCA National Coach-of-the-Year twice (2002 and 2007). He’s also been selected as the NGCA South Region Coach-of-the-Year three times (2002, 2007 and 2009), and the SSC Coach-of-the-Year six times. The six SSC awards are the most for any women’s golf coach since the league adopted the sport in 1998-99, with his most recent honor coming in 2011. In 2007, Davis won coaching awards at all three levels (conference, regional and national).

The same year Davis won the coaching trifecta, he was also inducted into the Florida Southern Athletic Hall of Fame, joining two of his former players, Shanna Nagy and Lisa Cave. Since then, four other Davis protégés have moved into the hall, with Jana Peterkova becoming a member in 2008, Lisa Ball joining the list in 2009, Rachel Bell earning induction in 2011, and Pamela Feggans going in last year.

A Lakeland native, Davis is a 1988 graduate of Lakeland High School, located less than a mile from Florida Southern College. He played collegiately at the University of Kentucky where he received his B.A. in Finance in 1993. While at Kentucky, Davis was a two-time Academic All-American as a junior and senior, and a three-time member of the SEC All-Academic Team. He twice won the Kentucky Intercollegiate Golf Championship. He still competes in amateur tournaments through the Florida State Golf Association and again qualified for the Florida State Amateur Championship in 2010. Davis won the event as a collegiate golfer in 1990.

Before coming to Florida Southern in February of 1997, Davis served as assistant golf coach at the University of Kentucky for one year before playing three years professionally on the Tommy Armour, Gary Player, Moonlight and Hooters Tours. He’s also served as a golf assistant at Lone Palm Golf Club, the primary home course of the Moccasins.

Robbie and his wife Joy live in Lakeland and have three daughters: Perry (12), Lucy (9) and Susie (7).

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