After 13 years of coaching the women’s golf team at USF, Susan Holt announced her resignation Wednesday and will take over as the coach at Notre Dame, according to a press release.

Holt, who coached at Purdue from 1990-93 before coming to USF, coached the Bulls to five Conference USA championships, 16 team titles and 17 runner-up titles. She also led USF to 11 NCAA regional appearances and took the Bulls to the NCAA championship finals in 2001 and 2002.

In 10 of her 13 seasons at USF, Holt’s teams won at least one tournament. A three-time C-USA Coach of the Year – in 1996, 1999 and 2001 – Holt was named the C-USA Coach of the Decade in 2005.

Holt’s athletes have also done well academically over the years. Along with numerous awards before joining the Big East, 10 of her players were named to the Big East Conference Academic All-Star Team last season. During her career, her teams averaged a 3.24 GPA.

“Susan has done a remarkable job with our women’s golf program,” Doug Woolard, USF director of athletics, said in the press release. “Her leadership of the program has led to high levels of success athletically and academically on a consistent basis throughout 13 years.”

Although she spent more than a decade coaching at USF, Holt couldn’t give up a chance to coach at a school with such an athletic history and tradition.

“It’s Notre Dame,” Holt said in the press release. She became USF’s longest-tenured coach earlier this year when former track and field coach Greg Thiel resigned and after former baseball coach Eddie Cardieri resigned.

“This is an opportunity that presented itself, a very attractive opportunity, and I have a chance to move my family back closer to the Midwest, where both my husband and I are from. Right now it suits the needs of my family.”

Holt plans on sticking around until after the team’s first tournament, which is Sept. 11-12 in Charleston, S.C. She will also help with the process of hiring her replacement.

“While we will miss her greatly, we are thankful her dedication to USF has positioned the program to be successful for many years to come,” Woolard said in the release. “Because of that, we expect to draw an outstanding national pool of outstanding candidates to replace Coach Holt.”

– Staff report