Maura Ballard has guided the Drew University men's and women's golf teams to tremendous success over their first three years of varsity play.
In 2019-20, the Ranger women's team captured its second consecutive Landmark Conference title. When the conference championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rangers were awarded the conference crown by virtue of their victory in the Landmark Fall Preview.
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 also coached the Player of the Year at the inaugural Landmark Championship, when Marissa Broderick C'21 claimed the individual title in 2018.
On the men's side, Ballard guided the Blue and Green to a strong showing in their shortened 2019-20 campaign. The season was highlighted by a stellar performance at the Dickinson Invitational, where they captured the team title with a school-record 294.
In 2018-19, the Rangers came in second place at the Landmark Conference Championships. The team was in fifth place after the opening round, but came roaring back with a then-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. She also served as the school's senior woman administrator for two years from 2018-20.
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.
In addition to her duties as head coach, Ballard is the coordinator of the athletic department’s Blue & Green Golf Outing. 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 mballard@drew.edu 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.
