Austin grew up in Raeford, went to Hoke High School and learned to play the game at Arabia Golf Club and courses in Pinehurst and Fayetteville. She wasn’t sure where her talents would take her. But her father, Jake, had a chat with Homer Rice, the UNC athletic director at the time, and the die was cast.
The Tar Heels didn’t have a women’s golf team in 1972, but the Title IX ruling was having an effect. So Rice initiated a women’s golf team and Sally Austin had a place to play.
There was no scholarship, but there was competition, and that was exactly what Austin was looking for.
“We only had one player to break 100 in our first tournament,” Austin recalls, “but we got better quickly. By my senior year, we qualified for the AIAW championship tournament.”
Austin didn’t win any collegiate titles, but she was a solid player whose game was continuing to improve.
“I was playing pretty well and after my junior year, I decided to try to make a career out of it,” she says. “I had been runner-up in the Carolinas Junior one year and I won the North Carolina State Amateur in 1979. So, after playing well in the U.S. Amateur in 1980, I turned professional.”
That led to playing on mini-tours in Florida, a stint on the Women’s Professional Tour, the Futures Tour and the Europe-Asia circuit.
“I won one mini-tour event and had some good finishes overseas,” Austin says, “and played well enough to finish in the Top 10 in the Order of Merit there. I was seeing improvement in my game and knew I could play with some of the girls on the LPGA Tour.”
It wasn’t that easy to get her playing card, however, and she spent the years between 1981-87 attempting to qualify. Finally, in 1987, she earned a conditional card and became a member of the LPGA Tour.
“That was some experience,” she says. “I missed a lot of cuts by one shot, and my best finish was 12th place. But I was having a tough time with my nerves. I was a perfectionist and was beating myself up when things didn’t go well and my nerves were getting to me. I was, without a doubt, my own worst enemy. I couldn’t eat and I lost eight pounds during that year.”
She also lost her playing card and the desire to pursue golf as a career.
“It was such a psychological barrier for me,” she says. “But once I was off the tour, I could eat again. I decided I didn’t want to put myself through that again. I just wish I had known then what I know now.”
So, Austin began teaching the game. She worked at schools in Florida, in the N.C. mountains and at Pine Needles in Southern Pines. That led to an assistant coaching job with Dot Gunnels at UNC and she became head coach at her alma mater in 1993, when Gunnels left after leading the Tar Heels to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
There haven’t been any titles for UNC since then, although Austin has fielded some solid teams. Instead, she’s watched archrival Duke win two national championships and become one of the top women’s programs in the nation under Coach Dan Brooks.
“Duke’s success is obvious,” Austin says, “and I’m putting pressure on myself to match it. I don’t want to roll over and die. We see what Duke’s doing and we feel we have to do that. We’re spending a lot of time traveling and recruiting these days.”
That work may be about to pay off.
“Dan Brooks is a good coach and Duke is a good school,” Austin says, “and when Jenny Chausiriporn got into the playoff for the U.S. Open championship with Se Ri Pak, it attracted a lot of national attention. That attracted players to the Duke program and attention to the ACC. Also, girls who had been going to schools in the West realized there were good programs in the East, so more good players came into the ACC.
“We’ve had some good recruiting success and I feel we have a good nucleus to compete for the championship. Ashley Prange is a junior who made all-ACC last year and we’re expecting some good things from her in terms of play and leadership.
“We recruit the same kids that Duke and Wake Forest do and UNC sells itself. We have a competitive team and facilities that should help us improve even more. I don’t think there’s a better course (Tom Fazio-designed Finley) or practice facility in the country.”
Many schools, including Duke, have strengthened their programs through recruiting international players, and Austin isn’t averse to following suit.
“My philosophy is to recruit U.S. players first, but I do go after the best players I can get,” Austin says. “I want our players to get a college degree, too. I never knew anyone on Tour who said they wish they hadn’t finished college. But I’ve talked to a lot who wish they had.
“We’re getting there. We’ll be greatly improved this year and if we land a couple of good players that we’re looking at, we’ll be right there. We’ve got some good ones coming in now who can be good ones. They just have to be willing to work harder than anyone else. If they are, we can get there.”
One of those new players is Josie Shinn, a freshman from Pinecrest High School.
“Josie has a short game that is incredible,” Austin says. “She’s a grinder and a scorer and we need that kind of spirit. I’d like to have an entire team with her attitude.”
