Bruins on the Links
Fall 2011 is the inaugural season for golf at Bellevue University. The golf teams join the University's six other current sports teams: Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Baseball, Men's Basketball, and Women's Volleyball.
Bellevue's first Head Men's and Women's Golf Coach Rob Brown is looking forward to the first Bruin Golf season: "We hope to be very competitive. However we are jumping right into the fire, as we play the #1, #2 and #6 teams in the country this fall." A native of Omaha, Brown has taught golf and been a golf professional for nearly 40 years. Prior to joining the Bellevue Athletic Department, he spent a year teaching golf in South America and working with PGA great Al Gieberger. More recently, Brown served as the Director of Instruction at Stone Eagle Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif. from 2005-2009.
"I look forward to building the golf programs at Bellevue University and including golf as part of the great winning traditions Bellevue has established in all of its sports," said Brown. An accomplished golfer, Brown was the 2008 Nebraska Senior PGA champion. He qualified for the 1997 U.S. Senior Open and the 1996 PGA Senior Championship. Brown was a five-time Iowa PGA Senior champion. He captured the 1995 Iowa State Open and was named the 1995 Iowa Senior Player of the Year.
Also on Brown's staff is Head Women's Golf coach, Shelly Liddick. Liddick will also assist Brown with the men's program. A member of the LPGA since 1993, coach Liddick is a certified professional golf club fitter and has taught golf schools in Alabama, Arizona, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Hawaii, and California. A native of Lincoln, Neb. and Ottumwa, Iowa, Liddick played collegiately at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She also coached at her alma mater and was the head women's golf coach at Wichita State University from 2003-04. "I am very pleased to have someone of Shelly's caliber assisting me as we build the Bruin golf programs," said Brown. Liddick specializes in player development, as well as the mental game and short game.
The Bruins will be playing and practicing at a variety of courses in the Omaha Metropolitan area and southeast Nebraska, including Quarry Oaks, Arbor Links, Platteview Country Club, Bent Tree, and Eagle Hills. Both the men's and women's team will open their seasons in Oklahoma, as they compete in a tournament hosted by Southwest Christian, September 6-7.
