Sterling’s Ember (Schuldt) Holloway named Augusta University women’s golf coach 

Sterling native Ember (Schuldt) Holloway became the Augusta University Jaguars’ eighth head women’s golf coach in program history at the end of June.

The 2010 Sterling High School graduate was a four-time state qualifier and three-time medalist, finishing 12th at state in the 2007-08 season, followed by third-place finishes the next two years.

She previously was an assistant coach in the Georgia women’s golf program. Holloway also was an assistant at Purdue under Devin Brouse, a 2009 Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame inductee.

“I feel truly honored to be the next head women’s golf coach at Augusta University,” Holloway said in a release. “I want to thank [athletic director] Ryan Erlacher and the rest of the search committee for their belief in me to build upon the success Augusta golf is known for.

“My family and I look forward to being a part of such a storied and passionate community. Augusta is truly a special place, and I cannot wait to compete for championships.”

She golfed at the University of Illinois from 2010-14 and also played professionally for three seasons. At Illinois, she recorded the second-lowest career stroke average in program history. Playing in more than 50 career tournaments, she achieved 10 top-10 and 20 top-20 finishes.

Holloway was the first Illinois women’s golfer to participate in three NCAA regionals and held the Illini’s lowest stroke average in 2013 and 2014. In her senior year, she was named second-team All-Big Ten after leading Illinois individually in six of 11 tournaments, including a sixth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Academically, she earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors as both a junior and a senior.

During her three seasons as a professional golfer, Holloway competed in 21 Symetra Tour events and 18 Cactus Tour events. She also qualified for two U.S. Women’s Amateurs and three U.S. Public Links Amateurs.

In 2020, she was the assistant and interim head golf professional at Urbana Country Club in Illinois. Before that, she worked as the senior assistant golf professional at Boot Ranch Golf Club in Fredericksburg, Texas.

During her time at Georgia, Holloway coached three All-Americans, three All-SEC performers, and four individual title winners. The 2023 Bulldogs team won the NCAA Athens Regional championship and finished 14th at the NCAA National Championship. The 2023-24 UGA recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the country by the Golf Channel. The team also was ranked in the top 25 nationally by GolfStat and Clippd Golf for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

“It became abundantly clear early in our search that Ember was not only a great coach but would be a perfect fit for our campus and community,” Erlacher said. “Our women’s golf vacancy was highly sought after and produced a tremendous candidate pool. Ember embodied everything we were looking for in our next coach, and we have no doubt she will continue the commitment to excellence coach Caroline Hegg established.”