Maura Ballard

Maura Ballard is the head coach for Drew University's Men's and Women's Golf Teams. The 2018-19 Landmark Conference Women's Golf Coach of the Year, Maura Ballard has guided the Rangers to the top of the Landmark Conference after just two seasons of varsity play.

Ballard's women's team posted a banner season in 2018-19, which included the program's first-ever Landmark Conference title and NCAA Division III Championship appearance. After capturing conference runner-up honors in the team's inaugural season in 2017-18, the Rangers won the 2019 Landmark Conference title in dominant fashion, beating out their nearest opponent by 41 strokes. Lucy Lamb C'21 claimed medalist honors with a 25-stroke victory and was honored as the Landmark Conference Player of the Year. Lamb and Cathy Bi C'22, who tied for fifth place, were each named First Team All-Landmark Conference while Kristine Masseria C'21 (eighth place) landed second-team honors. Ballard has now coached the Landmark Conference Women's Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, as Marissa Broderick claimed the individual title in 2018.

On the men's side, Ballard guided the Blue and Green to a runner-up finish at the Landmark Conference Championships in 2018-19. The Rangers were in fifth place after the opening round, but came roaring back with a school-record 303 on the second and final day of the tournament. The men's team also boasted the individual champion as Lucas Artigliere C'22 prevailed on two playoff holes after shooting 75, 71. He was honored as both the Landmark Conference Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year while also capturing first-team all-conference recognition. In addition, Luis Ng Tang C'22 nabbed a spot on the All-Landmark Conference Second Team after tying for 11th place.

Ballard was announced as the first head coach of the Rangers' men's and women's golf teams by former Drew University Director of Athletics Jason Fein on July 15, 2016. She launched the Drew golf programs in the fall of 2016 as a club team while recruiting and building toward Drew's first varsity season as part of the Landmark Conference. In July of 2018 Coach Ballard was promoted to Senior Woman Administrator by current Director of Athletics, Christa Racine.

Prior to arriving at Drew, Ballard picked up 22 years of NCAA experience as the Director of Golf and Head Coach at Rutgers University, where she was named the 2005 Big East Men's Golf Coach of the Year. A 1988 graduate of Rutgers, she guided her alma mater to 22 tournament wins and 20 individual championships during her tenure as Head Coach. Her teams also performed well off the course, earning 110 All-Academic Scholar awards and seven Academic All-America honors. Ballard’s 2004-05 men’s squad at Rutgers still holds the record for the team’s lowest 18-hole score of 271 (13 under par).

Ballard is a 2010 graduate of the Vision 54 “Coaching for the Future” performance coaching program. The Vision 54 philosophy, developed by famed golf coaches Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, encompasses a holistic approach working with each athlete to reach their potential in golf and in life. She is also a 2014 graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy. Ballard is a long-time member of both the Golf Coaches Association of America and the Women’s Golf Coaches Association and serves on the Men’s Golf Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).

Ballard practices what she preaches as the owner of a lengthy success story with a club in her hands. In 1994 she was the first woman inducted into the Somerville High School Athletic Hall of Fame for accomplishments in tennis, basketball and golf. As a Division I collegiate golfer she earned four MVP awards at Rutgers, won the 1986 Yale Invitational, and has continued to garner multiple championships throughout her playing career. She is a 12-time club champion spanning 1986 to 2019, and is the 1988, 2013 and 2014 Garden State Stroke Play Champion, the 1992 New Jersey State Amateur Champion, the 2015 and 2019 Garden State Senior Champion and the 2015 and 2016 New Jersey State Women’s Senior Champion. She is currently a member of the golf teams’ home course, Spring Brook Country Club where she carries a 4 handicap and is the reigning women’s club champion.

In addition to her duties as Head Coach and Senior Woman Administrator, Ballard is the Coordinator of the athletic department’s Blue & Green Golf Outing. The 11th Annual Blue & Green Golf Outing will be held at Spring Brook Country Club in Morristown, N.J. on June 15, 2020. Proceeds from the event benefit the entire Athletic Department at Drew University. For more information and for those interested in sponsorship or participating, please contact Coach Ballard at [email protected] or visit the Blue & Green Golf Outing website.

Ballard was a board member for the Garden State Women's Golf Association from 2009-15 and has been a volunteer for The First Tee of Raritan Valley. She and her husband, Bob, live in Branchburg Township and in their free time enjoy playing golf, skiing, fly-fishing and pampering their dogs Teddy and Scout.