HONORS & AWARDS
2012 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year: May 1, 2012
Greeley native and former Greeley Central High School and Pepperdine University standout golfer Brandon White became the second-ever head women's golf coach at Northern Colorado on July 24, 2006.
White, the 2012 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, led the team to its first Big Sky Conference Championship in 2012, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
2012-13
The Bears finished third in the Big Sky Conference Championship. Senior Carleigh Silvers, who tied for fifth, became only the second Bears golfer to be named All-Conference First Team and the first in school history to earn the award twice. The Bears also won the Monterey Bay Invitational at the Del Monte Golf Club (Feb. 25-26) after shooting a 952, where Silvers also won individual titlist honors.
2011-12
The Bears advanced to the team’s first NCAA Regional by winning the Big Sky Championship — tying a league championship record of 880 strokes (+16) and obliterating their own 54-hole school record (908) — by two shots over preseason-favorite Sacramento State. Junior Carleigh Silvers won the individual by shooting a 3-under par 213. Brandon White was named Big Sky Coach of the Year by fellow coaches, the first such award in his career. The team also had top-10 finishes at the Wyoming Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate (8th; Oct. 8-9), the Santa Clara Colby Invitational (3rd; Oct. 24-25) and the Red Rocks Invitational (9th; March 3-4).
2010-11
Led by a third-place individual finish by Carleigh Silvers, the Bears took third place at the Big Sky Conference Golf Championship. Silvers was named to the Big Sky’s All-Tournament team and All-Big Sky Second Team. It was the highest finish for the Bears since joining the Big Sky in 2008. The club also finished fourth at the Shocker Invitational (Oct. 18-19), eighth at the Lumberjack Shootout (March 14-16) and ninth at the Red Rocks Invitational (Feb. 25-26).
2009-10
In a 45-person field of the Big Sky Conference Golf Championship, the Bears had three golfers finish in the top 20, including defending champion Ali Nelson who finished fifth. The team finished fourth overall, improving two spots from the team’s first two years in the conference where they placed sixth. At the Cal Poly/Lamkin Grip Match Play Tournament, the Bears finished second, winning the first two rounds 3&2 before dropping the final 4&1.
2008-09
Ali Nelson became the first league freshman since 2005 to win a Big Sky individual title at the conference championship, helping the Bears to a sixth-place finish. In the team’s second year in the league, Nelson was the first Bears to finish in the top 10, let alone win a title.
2007-08
In the Bears first year in the Big Sky Conference, the team finished in sixth place and senior Jenny Henderson paced the team with a 14th place finish. Henderson and Gina Rodriguez were both named to the Nation Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team, while Henderson earned All-Conference honors.
After completing PGA Qualifying School, White was a member of the Grey Goose/Gateway Tour from summer 2003 through winter 2005. During that time, White competed in more than 40 professional events in Arizona and California.
As an amateur/junior golfer, White competed in many events including the ESPN Junior Golf Tour, the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, the Junior World Championship and the Colorado State Stroke Play Championship, an event where he was the runner-up.
White earned a scholarship to play college golf at Pepperdine University in Malibu for coach John Geiberger. A member of the team from 1998-03, White was named the 2000 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year and competed at the 2000 Division I Championship held in Auburn, Ala. The Waves won the WCC Championship in 1999 and 2000 and were eighth at the NCAA Championships in 2002.
White was a four-year letter winner at Greeley Central High School for coach John Johnson from 1994-98. He set numerous school scoring records, including a career 73.4 scoring average, and the Colorado High School State record for scoring with a 10-under round of 62 at the Marianna Butte High School Invitational.
Most recently White has worked as a professional caddy on the Grey Goose/Gateway Tour, the Canadian Tour and the Nationwide Tour. White received his degree in business administration from Pepperdine in 2003.
