ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After serving as an assistant coach this past summer, University of Michigan women’s golf head coach Jan Dowling has been named the Team International women’s head coach for the 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup at the Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas.
“I’m grateful the WGCA, GCAA and the Arnold Palmer Cup have entrusted me with this incredible honor to coach the International Team this summer,” said Dowling. “With the addition of women last year, the tournament is unique and creates an incredible arena of world-class golf and competition.
“Our group of players had a special bond last year, and I’m very much looking forward to being a part of that environment again. To represent the University of Michigan and my home country of Canada is truly an honor and an opportunity I will embrace to the fullest.”
A Ryder Cup-style tournament co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), the event features the top university/college golfers and matches the United States against an International team.
The 2019 event, to be played June 7-9, will mark the second time the event will be played under the expanded format to include men’s and women’s USA collegiate golfers, making it the only major tournament to feature men and women playing side by side as partners.
Dowling will be joined by men’s head coach Mark Immelman of Columbus State and South Africa for the International team. She assisted Stanford head coach Ann Walker with the International team for the 2018 event held at the Evian Resort Golf Club in southeastern France. The U.S. claimed 18 of the final 24 points to win the Palmer Cup, 38.4-21.5.
A native of Bradford, Ontario, Dowling is in her sixth season as head coach with the Wolverines. She has reshaped the Michigan program into a Big Ten and national contender that made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017. As a collegiate golfer at Kent State, she helped lead the Golden Flashes to four straight Mid-American Conference championships. Dowling was the individual medalist two years in a row at the MAC Championships, a four-time first team All-MAC selection and the 2000 MAC Player of the Year.
From 2003-05, Dowling competed on the Futures Golf Tour and BMO Canadian Women’s Tour, combining for six top-10 finishes. She qualified for the 2005 LPGA Tour Canadian Women’s Open. She won the 2000 Canadian Amateur and was named the SCORE Golf Canadian Female Amateur of the Year. Dowling was a member of the Canadian Team at the 2002 World Golf Amateur Championships and was a member of the Ontario Amateur Team in 1999.
