Sara Allen, an experienced coach at both the collegiate and prep levels, began her duties as Earlham College's new head women's golf coach on January 11, 2021.
In her first year leading the women's golf program, Allen coached senior Claire Waggener to three program records at the HCAC Championship round in the fall. Waggener recorded the second best finish by a Quaker woman at the championship round with an all-conference performance. As a team, the Quakers finished in seventh place with a total combined score of 1,166 in the 54-hole tournament.
"Sara is a tremendous addition for Earlham Athletics and I am excited we are able to add her to our staff," said
Julie Kline, Earlham's senior director of athletics, at the time of Allen's hiring. "Sara brings a championship mindset to Earlham women's golf, and her demonstrated abilities to develop talent through coaching will only strengthen our program. I look forward to seeing the success that I know will follow with Sara's mentorship of our women's golf team."
Allen came to Earlham from Bishop England High School in the Charleston, South Carolina, suburb of Daniel Island, where she was the head girls' golf coach. She led the Lady Bishops to a third-place finish at this fall's South Carolina state championship – a five-place improvement over the team's 2019 finish – with her squad firing a two-day total of 682, and freshman Grayson Bonner earning All-State honors. Allen was named the
Charleston Post and Courier All-Lowcountry Coach of the Year, with two of her student-athletes earning First Team All-Lowcountry honors and a third getting tabbed to the Honorable Mention squad.
Prior to joining the staff at Bishop England, Allen was an assistant women's golf coach at NCAA Division II member Wingate University (N.C.) from June 2017 to December 2019. Wingate women's golf was ranked among the top 25 in Division II during all three seasons she was involved with the program, peaking with a No. 10 ranking at the end of the Bulldogs' Fall 2019 slate of tournaments. She helped mentor two Wingate women's golfers to All-America honors, while three student-athletes received All-American Scholar recognition from the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA).
In the two complete seasons she was at Wingate, Allen helped guide the Bulldogs to an NCAA Regional appearance in 2018 with an individual qualification in 2019. Wingate captured the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship by a margin of 26 strokes, and the Bulldogs recorded three tournament victories, four runner-up finishes, and 12 top-five showings during Allen's tenure at Wingate.
"I am very honored and excited to be joining the Earlham as the Head Women's Golf Coach," said Allen. "I look forward to helping current and future Quaker student-athletes achieve their goals both on and off the golf course. I want to thank
Julie Kline and the hiring committee for the opportunity to join such a great community of students and staff."
In addition to coaching golf, Allen served as Bishop England's sports information director concurrent with her duties with the girls' golf team, and she was a recreation assistant at the Mecklenburg (N.C.) County Sportsplex at Matthews from January 2018 to December 2019 with various facility and event operations responsibilities.
Prior to accepting the position at Wingate, Allen worked in the Conference Carolinas (NCAA Division II) office from August 2016 to June 2017, assisting with conference operations and public relations including content creation for the league's social media accounts, writing news releases and championship previews/recaps, and representing Conference Carolinas at post-season events. Allen also worked with The First Tee of Greater Charleston during the summer of 2016, creating lesson plans and programming for outreach clinics that engaged with participants across a range of skill levels.
Allen is a December 2014 graduate of Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina, with a degree in communications. She was a three-year member of the Coker women's golf team. She was named the team's most valuable player in 2011-12 with an 86.1 stroke average, and completed her career with an 86.7 stroke average over 35 collegiate rounds. Allen finished her career ranked second among the program's all-time leaders with 26 birdies, and she currently ranks 12th in the category. She was a WGCA All-American Scholar in 2013, and completed her time at Coker as an intern in the Cobras' sports information office.
Allen received her master's degree in sport management from Wingate in December 2019, with a specialization in sports marketing. She attended the NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar in 2017, and was a delegate with speaking privileges to the 2018 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis.
