Ann Sullivan grew up on a farm in rural College Grove, Tenn., whacking golf balls against the family barn.

“I can proudly say I never broke a window,” jokes Brenau University’s new head golf coach.

Sullivan reflects fondly about a journey that started in the backyard, took some turns but never strayed from a seemingly destined path. She played softball and basketball but always had fun swinging golf clubs since the age of 7.

Sullivan’s goal was to play college sports, and when it became evident she couldn’t run fast enough or jump high enough and wasn’t growing taller than 5-foot-7, she was still holding one bag filled with irons, woods, a pitching wedge and a putter.

“I just fell in love with the game,” Sullivan says. “Golf’s incomparable to other sports because it’s the one game
when you’re happy to get the lowest score. With golf, there’s honor and integrity. You’re playing your own ball. No one’s playing defense. You’re playing the course.”

As a freshman at Milligan University, Sullivan was the Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year. She earned
all-conference honors twice during her career and helped the Buffaloes stampede the competition en route to three AAC titles.

When her playing days ended in 2017, she turned her attention to coaching and landed a job as an assistant at Milligan.

Sullivan worked on a master’s degree in sports management at East Tennessee State University and, despite a rigorous
schedule filled with coaching and schoolwork, she took on an internship with the U.S. Golf Association and worked the U.S. Amateur in 2018 at Pebble Beach.

In 2019, Sullivan accepted an assistant coaching job at Division II University of Montevallo in Alabama. Three years later, she’s back closer to home — this time as a head coach — and Brenau Athletic Director Mike Lochstampfor has full confidence that Sullivan will provide the leadership needed for an already successful golf program.

“With her background in the NAIA, experience as an accomplished golfer in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and understanding of the mission of our university, she is a perfect fit for our program,” Lochstampfor says.