Where are They Now? Kim Coleman

SAN DIEGO – In the latest in the Aztecs' "Where Are They Now?" series, we caught up with Kim Coleman (1987-92), a former women's basketball walk-on who is currently the head golf professional at Vista Valley Country Club.

Coleman, who resides in nearby La Mesa, Calif., is one of 300 people in the world to be a "Class A" member for both the PGA and LPGA. After being named the LPGA Western Section Professional of the Year in 2017 and 2019, she was named the LPGA National Professional of the Year in 2020, one of the most prestigious awards in professional golf.

GoAztecs.com: What was your experience like playing basketball at San Diego State?
Kim Coleman: It was fantastic. My first year with Coach [Earnest] Riggins, we had quite the team. I'm 5'9" with no hops and I walked in and we had these gals like Connie [Waikle], who was 6'9" and Chana Perry and Brooke Meadows, they were 6'5", and, coming out of high school I was hanging out with all these trees. It was quite the scene. But it was awesome, I gave me people to connect with, you know, being a freshman in college I didn't know anybody, and it gave me a great environment. A great way to meet people and hang out and learn the ropes and travel and Coach Riggins was awesome. It was great experience.

GoAztecs.com: Did you go to San Diego State with the intention to walk on to the team?
Coleman: No, I didn't. I just went there for the business school. I was a California kid (Apple Valley, Calif.) who wanted to go to San Diego State. I had played all kinds of sports growing up, but I had lived in Turkey for a couple years during high school, so I didn't really know much about recruitment. I honestly didn't know much about college athletics at all, how to get in or how that whole process went.

GoAztecs.com: Did you play golf growing up?
Coleman: Yes, I did. I started when I was about eight years old. Both my parents played, and I had a little brother who played too. I think the biggest thing is we were an Air Force family so we could play at these Air Force bases inexpensively, so it was cheaper to bring the kids and all hang out as the four of us as a family and get the hot dogs and drive the golf cart. It was kind of a highlight as kids. I used to play like every weekend with the family.

GoAztecs.com: What was your career path after college? How did you go from being a basketball player to a golf pro?
Coleman: Out of college I worked in property management, and then got hooked up with an indoor professional women's volleyball league (National Volleyball League). There was actually a fellow San Diego State alum, Jackie Mendez, who I was friends with, and she was on the professional team, the San Diego Spikers. She hooked me up with that league and I worked for them for about six years [as their Director of Operations]. And I just always had this itch and dream of wanting to play professional golf and play on tour, but never really had the opportunity, so when the league folded the guy that I worked for helped me keep my property management job and I started to play many tours and events. I played on the Canadian Tour, U.S. Opens, I went to China one year to kick off their professional league (The Orient Open). It became clear that I was not going to be good enough to play professionally to make a living. I had friends that had been talking about the LPGA, teaching and the PGA. To get into one of those programs you have to be working in the business, so I got a job here at Vista Valley as an Assistant Pro, then got into the LPGA program and fell in love with it and I ended up realizing I wanted to do golf operations, beyond just teaching, so I got my PGA card and now I'm one of 300 in the world that have both PGA and LPGA cards. And now almost 11 years later, I'm still here at Vista Valley as their head golf professional.

GoAztecs.com: Did you always know you wanted to work in sports?
Coleman: Yeah, particularly in women's sports. Times were changing, with the ABA coming around, this was before the WNBA, there was this feeling in women's sports where there was really opportunity to make a difference. As someone who grew up in athletics, it really transformed me and who I was, I wanted to somehow continue that as a career, I just didn't quite know where or what.

GoAztecs.com: How has the view of women in sports changed over the last 15-20 years?
Coleman: On so many levels. The athlete and the quality of play is tremendous. These women start at a younger age, they are exposed, they get to play, get proper instruction in whatever sport. There's more opportunity and that's led to [better] quality of play in all sports. It's just amazing and I think people are that much more excited to watch it, realizing how great these women are. So, it's made a huge difference with the opportunities and the visibility so now you got the little girls who can see the different sports on TV, and you see these strong athletes making a decent living. You look at tennis where they're playing for the same amount of money as the men and getting similar exposure. It's been an incredible transformation and there is still a ways to go, but definitely better than it was 30 years ago. It's been good to see.

GoAztecs.com: How would you describe your job? It seems you do a little bit of everything.
Coleman: Yes, everything. Every day is different. Whether it's running a tournament, giving lessons, ordering merchandise for the shop, or managing the staff. You never know what you'll run into. Every day is fun, different challenges on different days with different people. I'm at a private club so I've gotten to where, especially been here so long, I've watched families grow and kids move on and go to college and come back. It's a pretty special place to be.

GoAztecs.com: You recently won the LPGA National Professional of the Year award. What was your reaction when you found out you'd won?
Coleman: Shocked and completely humbled. Knowing, one, who also was up for the award, and then looking at the list and seeing some of the big names that have won in the past and it just feels like, 'Wow, quite an honor to even be nominated or to be considered for it to be now listed among some of those great ladies.' I feel like I've got some big shoes to fill and need to step the game up.

GoAztecs.com: What are your professional goals for the next five to 10 years?
Coleman: I like to set goals for the year. Right now, I'm so involved with the LPGA and at my club. I enjoy trying to create new things, goals to expand, whether it's tournaments or events or some programs to give back, whether it's giving back to my members or my LPGA members. For the next two years, I'm president of the [Western] section, I want to be able to look back and have created something that sticks with them so they'll look back and say, 'That was back when Coleman was president,' and she got that going and it's still going on eight-10 years later, we're still doing it, that kind of thing.

GoAztecs.com: How did COVID-19 affect your job and your club?
Coleman: First it was pretty shocking, like for everybody, with everything shutting down and not knowing what was safe and what wasn't. I think being at a private club and being in golf, it's actually turned into a kind of a silver lining for us. We feel like we can provide a safe environment, and be outside, playing the game. We're seeing families join, people that maybe played years ago or maybe always had an interest in playing or now they are testing the game to see if they like it. So, our membership is growing. We're having record Callaway equipment sales this year at my club after 11 years, which is phenomenal, so people are looking for something to do, something safe to do with the family and, hopefully, you can carry that over and give them such a good experience and show them why we love golf so much and what it has to offer and keep them around beyond this pandemic.