SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women's golf head coach Leslie Spalding has announced the hiring of Alyssa Waite as an assistant coach.
A native of Oceanside, Calif., Waite joins the Aztecs after spending the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant at her alma mater Portland State University. In addition, Waite brings valuable experience with her to The Mesa after serving as an assistant golf professional at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in San Diego since 2016 while assisting with the Future Champions Junior Golf Association for the past five years.
"Alyssa is a strong young woman who is a great fit for our program," Spalding said. "Her demeanor and outlook as a coach is something I'm really looking forward to working with."
A starter for two-and-a-half seasons at PSU, Waite ranks 12th school history with a 78.30 scoring average in 81 tournament rounds, logging three-top 10 placements. She posted her highest finish for the Vikings in the fall of 2014 with a fifth-place tie at the Rose City Collegiate and previously matched her career-best 70 in the final round of the Mountain View Collegiate in the spring of 2014.
In addition, Waite competed in three Big Sky Conference tournaments and was an NCAA regional participant after helping her squad capture the league championship in the spring of 2014.
Waite also excelled in the classroom, meriting Big Sky all-academic accolades as a senior and was a Dean's List honoree for three semesters before receiving her undergraduate degree in psychology in 2016.
"I am very excited to join the Aztec family," Waite said. "Coach Spalding has done an amazing job with the team and I look forward to helping a great program reach its goal of competing for a national championship."
A standout prep player, Waite graduated from El Camino High School, earning first-team all-Avocado West League honors and second-team all-CIF distinction following her junior and senior campaigns in 2011 and 2012. She was named the Wildcats' most valuable player all four years and was a two-time CIF Southern California Regional participant.
Waite began her collegiate career at Cal State San Marcos, where she posted the second-lowest single-season scoring average in program history with a 77.57 clip as freshman during the 2012-13 season. She also set the school record with 59 birdies that year and finished with a No. 15 NAIA individual rating. During her one-and-a-half seasons with the Cougars, Waite registered top-10 placements in 10 of 16 tournaments played, including a victory at the CSUSM Cougar Fall Classic in October of 2013.
San Diego State opens its 2018 fall schedule next month when it participates in the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, Sept. 10-11, in Albuquerque, N.M.