High Point University Athletics

High Point University women's golf coach Alexis Bennett is in her fourth season at the helm of the program. The team has seen improvement each year since Bennett's arrival. Bennett has taken the Panthers from third-place finishes in the Big South Championships in her first two years to a program-record second-place finish last season. Bennett has led the Panthers through their most successful stretch in program history.

During the fall portion of the 2019-20 season, the team captured their fifth team win in four years at the Golfweek Program Challenge in Pawleys Island, SC at the True Blue Golf Club. The team shot a school record-tying round of 2-under par 286. Senior Samantha Vodry also picked up her second career win under Bennett at the Nittany Lion Invitational.

In 2019, Bennett led the Panthers to a program-best second-place finish at the Big South Championships with a 54-hole score of 897, the fourth-best total in program history. Samantha Vodry, a junior at the time, became the second Panther to earn Big South medalist honors, winning the conference championship by three strokes. Multiple single-season HPU records were set or tied under the guidance of Bennett during the 2018-19 campaign including individual birdies (Vodry - 76), individual eagles (Vodry - 4), par or better rounds (Sarah Kahn - 7) and team eagles (7). Kahn was named to the All-Big South team and had a scoring average of 75.24, the second-best single season in school history. The Panthers also won the Terrier Intercollegiate for the second year in a row.

In Bennett's second year in 2017-18, the Panthers finished third at the Big South Championships for the second year in a row and broke the single-season school record for scoring average against par (17.48) and had the second-best average score (305.48) in program history. HPU recorded 290 birdies in 10 tournaments, smashing the previous single-season school record of 232. Senior Cayla Smith broke the program's record for low round with a 6-under 66 in the final round of the River Landing Classic.

The Purple & White had a special week during the fall portion of the season. After a hurricane canceled an earlier tournament, the Panthers had to play back-to-back tournaments on four consecutive days. HPU triumphed at the Winthrop Intercollegiate by two strokes and then 48 hours later, claimed the Terrier Intercollegiate by eight strokes. For the year, the Panthers had nine individual rounds of par or better and tied the school record for low round as a team in the first round of the Winthrop Intercollegiate with a 2-under 286.

Bennett's first year at the helm also included numerous highlights. The Panthers' third-place finish at the Big South Championships was tied for the program's best finish in championship history. The Big South tourney was record-breaking one for HPU, as the Panthers shot 286 in the second round for the best round in school for low score and low round vs. par (-2). HPU also shot 293, which is the second-best low score in school history, in the third round of the Big South Championships as well as the final round of the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic. 

High Point had 10 individual rounds under par in 2016-17, including a 69 by freshman Samantha Vodry in the final round of the conference championship. Vodry went on to finish in a tie for third overall (-5) and her 54-hole total was a school-record 211.

Overall, the Panthers posted a team scoring average of 307, 11 strokes better than 2015-16, and won their first tournament since 2014 when they finished first at the Low Country Intercollegiate.

High Point University athletic director Dan Hauser named Alexis Bennett as the fourth Division I head coach in the women’s golf program’s history on July 22, 2016.
 
Bennett came to HPU after three seasons as the head coach at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where she led the Sand Sharks to a perennial top-10 national ranking and top-10 finishes at the NAIA National Championship in each of the last two campaigns. She was named the Sun Conference Coach of the Year in 2016.
 
In 2015-16, Bennett led the Sand Sharks to a runner-up finish at the Sun Conference Championships and an eighth-place finish at the NAIA Women's Golf National Championship en route to earning Coach of the Year accolades. The team was ranked as high as sixth in the nation during the campaign.

In Bennett's second season at the helm, the Sand Sharks claimed three team titles, including back-to-back victories, and finished ninth at the NAIA National Championship. In Bennett's inaugural campaign, the Sand Sharks finished in the top three at seven of 10 events, including a runner-up finish at the Sun Conference Championship, had two players win individual titles, and reached as high as No. 9 in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll.
 
Bennett mentored a series of elite golfers during her time in Beaufort. Under her guidance, Franzi Knoetsch earned First Team All-America honors in 2015-16 after placing third at the NAIA National Championship. The Germany native posted 10 top-10s during her outstanding career. Bennett also mentored Samantha O’Donnell to Third Team All-America accolades in 2014.
 
Overall, Bennett’s players claimed six individual medalist accolades over three years, as well as 26 individual top-5 finishes and 53 top-10 showings. The team posted 16 top-3 finishes from 2013-16, including four event titles and seven runner up showings.

A native of Rockford, Ill., Bennett went on to become a standout golfer at Southern Methodist University before spending three years playing professionally on the LPGA Symetra Tour and the Canadian Women's Tour. While at SMU, Bennett was a two-time National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar. 

Prior to taking over the Sand Shark women's golf program, Bennett spent time as an assistant golf coach at Rockford (Ill.) Lutheran High School and as assistant program director of TGA Premier Junior Golf in Dallas.