Lauren Mason
SMU Head Women's Golf Coach
Lauren Mason enters her fourth season (2024-25) at the helm of SMU Women's Golf. Mason took over as Head Coach in 2021-22, and in three seasons turned the Mustangs into National Championship contenders with two NCAA Championship appearances.
In 2023-24, the Mustangs picked up where they left off in 2023 with more tournament titles. They won top honors at the Jim West Challenge where they broke four key program records. They set the 54 hole team record (38-under par) and the 18 hole team record (23-under par), beating the previous record by nine strokes. Ellie Szeryk set the 54 hole record (16-under) and Mackenzie Lee broke the 18-hole record (10-under). The team added another team title at the Chevron Collegiate which they immediately followed with a title at The Show. They returned to the top with a victory at the Texas Showdown. At the AAC Championship, the Mustangs repeated as Champions with a dramatic come-from-behind win. Returning to the NCAA Regionals, the Mustangs finished in a tie for second to comfortably qualify for the NCAA Championships. At the Championship, the Mustangs finished in 24th. Three Mustangs were named all-conference, Emily Odwin, Mackenzie Lee and Ellie Szeryk.
In 2022-23, the Mustangs broke numerous records and set a new standard for SMU Women's Golf. The Mustangs started off the season with a two second-place finishes before breaking through with a victory at the Hurricane Invitational. In the spring, the Mustangs started an astounding streak of five straight tournament wins with a victory at the Trinity Forest Invitational. With victories at the Briar's Creek Invitational and the Chattanooga Classic, the Mustangs were poised for a strong performance at the conference championship. At the AAC Championships, the Mustangs dominated, claiming a 14-stroke victory and their first conference title since 1992. Freshman Michelle Zhang won medalist honors and four Mustangs were named All-Conference. In its first regional appearance since 2017, SMU again dominated, easily qualifying for the NCAA Championship with another victory. At the NCAA Championship, the Mustangs successfully qualified for the fourth round with a strong performance over the first three days. SMU kept moving up all the way into a tie for 11th, the best Mustang finish since 1986, barely missing out on match play. Zhang would go on to finish in a tie for fifth in the nation. A pair of Mustang freshman, Zhang and Mackenzie Lee were named All-Americans. In all, the Mustangs broke 39 program records including smashing the single season scoring record by over five strokes. SMU's six tournament titles in 2022-23 doubled the previous Mustang record of three.
In her first season on the Hilltop (2021-22), Mason led the Mustangs to a tournament victory in the team's first outing at the Badger Invitational in September. SMU recorded four top five finishes throughout the season including third at the GCU Invite and the AGT Intercollegiate. They finished fourth out of 10 teams at the AAC Championship, while senior Kennedy Pedigo won the individual title and clinched a birth to the NCAA Regionals where she finished 24th out of 59 players. Two all-conference golfers and set program record for low round and low round versus par (-11, 277, Feb. 28, GCU Invite).
Mason arrived on the Hilltop after two seasons in charge of the men's and women's golf programs at Texas A&M-Commerce and a standout playing career at Texas Tech.
Mason guided both the Lion men's and women's programs to NCAA Division II top-10 finishes in 2021, reaching the medal-match play quarterfinals with the men and finishing ninth with the women. Both were the best national finishes in Texas A&M-Commerce history, as the women made their first appearance at the finals site, and the men made just their second.
In her two-year tenure as head coach, the Lion women finished top-three in 12 of 16 tournaments, including two tournament wins at the Jack Brown Memorial and West Texas A&M Desert Invitational in 2021. The Lion men also had two tournament victories, at the Midwestern State Invitational in 2020-21 and the 2021 NCAA Super Regional. In her first season as head coach, the Lions were poised to earn a postseason selection, ranked inside the top-30 at the time of the season's cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She coached a total of 13 all-conference selections in three seasons in Commerce, nine of which came while she was head coach (five women's, four men's), and four all-region selections (three women's, one men's). In 2021, her teams produced both the men's and women's Lone Star Conference's Newcomer of the Year, and saw the first two All-American selections in Lion women's golf history, plus an additional All-American selection on the men's side.
Her teams have been successful in their studies, as the Lion women were named the 2020 Lone Star Conference Academic Champions, and seven players (six women, one man) were named All-American Scholars. In her two years as head coach, her teams posted GPAs above 3.00 each season.
As an assistant at Texas A&M-Commerce, she helped the Lions reach the NCAA Super Regional, the women's program's first trip to the NCAA postseason.
In four seasons at Texas Tech, she played in every event, posting a school-record 134 rounds, and competed in two NCAA Championships for the Red Raiders. She won co-medalist honors at the Henssler Financial Intercollegiate, and posted two top-15 finishes at the Big 12 Championships. She graduated from Texas Tech with both a bachelor's (2017) and master's (2018) in sport management
Mason is a native of Queensland, Australia, and was the second-ranked amateur player from the country entering college. She represented her country several times in international competition, and earned status on the Symetra Tour for the 2019 season.
Mason Timeline
2021-Present: Head Coach, SMU (women)
2022-Present: Member of the Arnold Palmer Cup Committee
2019-21: Head Coach, Texas A&M-Commerce (men & women)
2018-19: Assistant Coach, Texas A&M-Commerce (men & women)
2013-18: Student-Athlete, Texas Tech
MASON NOTABLES:
2: AAC Coach Of The Year
2: AAC Titles
19: All-Conference selections
7: All-America Scholars (6 women's, 1 men's)
12: Tournaments Victories at SMU
2: NCAA Championship Appearances (11th place in 2022-23)
3: All-Americans (2 women's, 1 men's)
2: NCAA Division II Championships Appearances as head coach (one men's, one women's)
2: AAC Championship
2: NCAA Division I Championship Appearance at SMU (11th in 2023)