This feature originally appeared in the Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.



Cal's women's golf team qualified for its 20th consecutive NCAA Regionals appearance this spring – a run that began with a special group of Golden Bears in the early 2000s.
 
Nancy McDaniel is the only head coach in program history, but that doesn't mean she is the only coach with Cal roots. Five former players have not only contributed on the course for the Golden Bears, but they have also gone on to make their marks on young women across the country.
 
Anne Walker at Stanford, Ria (Quiazon) Scott at Virginia, Anna Temple at UC Davis and Sofie (Andersson) Aagard at Cal Poly all currently hold head coaching positions in the collegiate ranks, while Sarah Huarte is a former head coach at USF. For each of them, it started in Berkeley.
 
The early 2000s marked the best era of Cal women's golf. The team qualified for its first NCAA Regional in 2000, made the NCAA Championships the next year and posted top-five finishes from 2004-06.
 
Walker was one of the first persons to buy-in to what Cal had to offer, even as a fledgling golf program. In the spring of 1998, Walker was playing a tournament in her native Scotland and she carded a pesonal-best round with McDaniel in attendance. At the end of the round, McDaniel offered Walker a spot on Cal's team.
 
"It was pretty quick, we hit it off really easily," Walker said. "I really connected with her, believed in her from the get-go. I just really believed she had a lot of passion and was really keen on the game and just a great person. I left the house that morning with my mom, thinking I was going to be an hour away for school and came home that night and told her I was going to California."
 
Walker never visited campus before enrolling. Her faith in what McDaniel was building and the education she would receive was enough to get her to commit to Cal. The relationship between McDaniel and Walker helped usher in a new era for the Bears. The year after Walker joined, Cal added local player Scott and Vikki Laing, one of Walker's good friends from Scotland. That season, the Bears started their NCAA regional streak. The following year, when Huarte and Temple joined the team, the Bears made their first of six straight NCAA appearances.
 
When Walker graduated, she chose to join McDaniel's staff as an assistant coach rather than pursue a professional career.
 
"We had such a positive experience in the way we were coached and the respect we had for Nancy," Walker said. "She was a female role model for all of us, showing us you can have both. She had a family, she's a great mom, she's a great wife. It was just unbelievable. I think we all had such high respect for everything that she did on a daily basis, just so she could help us be in a position to win. I think that's why a lot of us got into coaching – because you have a really influential person that comes through your life that models this way of living and you think that's something you want to aspire to."
 
One of the first things the pair did was to have the players talk about their goals and what the team wanted to accomplish the following year. McDaniel had the players stand on a chair and practice their acceptance speech after winning a national championship should the Bears advance that far.
 
"I remember standing on the chair and being so embarrassed, not knowing what I was going to say," Huarte said. "It made me think twice about it, like we really could do this as a team. I think it starts with believing you can do it."
 
That led to one of the best seasons in Cal history in 2002-03. The Bears won seven tournaments, including the Pac-10 championship and the NCAA Central Regional. Laing captured the Pac-10 individual title.
 
That moment standing on a chair also offered some significant foreshadowing for Huarte, as she went on to win the 2004 NCAA individual crown.
 
"It was a neat thing to be part of a program that grew so much over that span of time, going from not really on the map to qualifying for the national championship for three straight years," Scott said. "It was a pretty special progression and that strong sense of accomplishment that you have with the team. That is something that I continued to crave, I think that's why I came back into coaching. You can't replicate those feelings when you're playing golf by yourself. I just love college golf and my experience so much."
 
They may have graduated, but the family atmosphere created by McDaniel helped inspire Walker, Scott, Temple, Huarte and Aagard to all become coaches. Most of the crew advanced to play professionally, and if a couple of Bears were going to the same tournament, they would room together on the road, just like they had in college.
 
"We're still teammates, it's wonderful," Scott said. "We have this built-in network where we know we can help each other out. We see each other as people and who we are first rather than where we coach. It's wonderful to know that you have this group of Bears behind you on a different level than everyone else."
 
Their careers have intersected in multiple ways. Walker, Temple and Aagard all worked as assistants under McDaniel. Huarte was a member of Walker's staff at UC Davis. They've even taken over the programs from each other at UC Davis and USF.
 
"Everyone does something a little bit different," Temple said. "But I think the thing that rings true for all of us is that we want what's best for our student-athletes. I believe that they're capable of excellence in the classroom, on the course and in their lives. I feel that to be true of my teammates who are coaches now. They all do it a little bit differently, but that's a theme we got from our experiences."
 
They are all competitive women who hate losing, especially to one another. However, they know whatever happens on the course, they are always going to be there to support each other. They're always going to be part of the Cal family.  
 
Nancy McDaniel – Cal HC (1994-Present)
"The biggest compliment that I can ever get is when they call and want to talk about something in coaching. But it's also very much a two-way street. I love that I have great resources in the business now. My former players hold me more accountable to the coach I was for them. They have really helped me stay true to the things that work in our program. They're awesome coaches and they're willing to share their insights. They've definitely made me better."
 
Anne Walker – Graduated ('02), Cal AC (02-08), UC Davis HC (08-12), Stanford HC (12-Present)
"Nancy, she's been much more than just a coach for me. She's been there as a family person. I mean from day one that made the difference for me — when I came from Scotland she made it feel like I automatically had family the day I landed here. That was huge because that made me feel comfortable, made me play better, and feel safe."
 
Ria Scott – Graduated ('03), USF HC (07-09), Oregon HC (09-18), Virginia HC (18-Present)
"Nancy taught us early on that she cares about us as people, above and beyond anything else. She still calls to check on me even though I'm on the other side of the world. The care that Nancy showed to us as people, that will always stand out and I hope that stands out in my coaching too."
 
Anna Temple – Graduated ('04), Cal AC (08-12), UC Davis HC (12-Present)
"As an adult, the thing I have come to respect is Nancy's desire to dedicate herself to teaching even those that aren't her student-athletes anymore. She's training young women to be in a position to be head coaches; to run a program of their own and develop young ladies. Honestly, I wouldn't be where I am without her and all my teammates. I think all of us pushed each other in school, I think we push each other in life. I know we push each other in coaching."
 
Sarah Huarte – Graduated ('04), UC Davis VC (2008), USF HC (09-17)
"We all embraced that moment in those years and wanted to do it as a career. So many players on that one team wanting to coach. I think there is a huge level of respect for what Nancy was doing and how she changed our lives during that period that made us want to do the same."

Sofie Aagard – Graduated ('06), Cal Poly VC (2012), Cal AC (12-15), Cal Poly HC (2015-Present)
"Nancy coaches the whole person and you can't leave the Cal program without getting better in every aspect of life. You're not just a better golfer, you will learn so many things that will set you up for life. Nancy is not a golf instructor, she is an amazing coach, friend and mentor. She has found a way to use golf to make the world a better place."