Coaches Council

Caroline Powers

Assistant Coach, Women’s Golf
Michigan State University
2018 WCA Graduate, Class #44

Former Michigan State All-American and Big Ten Golfer of the Year Caroline Powers will enter her second season as assistant coach in 2017-18. Powers was named assistant women’s golf coach by head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll in June 2016. In her first year back at her alma mater, Powers helped mentor a young Spartan team to great success. A week after winning the Lady Buckeye Invitational, MSU captured its fourth Big Ten Championship in the last seven years. MSU went on to a third-place showing at the NCAA Athens Regional and then 19th at the NCAA Championships.

Named the 2013 Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year, Powers completed her career as the school’s all-time record holder in scoring average (74.26) and owns three of the top four single-season scoring averages in program history. A three-time honorable mention All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection, Powers helped lead the Spartans to back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 2011 and 2012 and a school-record finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships as the team tied for ninth place. She qualified as an individual for the 2011 NCAA Championships and placed sixth, tied for the highest ever by a Spartan at nationals. Her scoring average of 73.53 as a sophomore in 2010-11 was a school record at the time and is still second lowest in an MSU single-season. The most decorated women’s golfer in Michigan State history, Powers is one of only two women’s athletes ever at MSU to earn the Alderton Award three times. “I’m extremely excited to have Caroline on staff,” said Slobodnik-Stoll. “When she graduated, I always thought in the back of my mind it would be wonderful if she could come back, especially with her family and their involvement in athletics pretty much her whole life (her father, Buddy Powers, was a longtime college hockey coach; her brother and sister also have coaching experience). I think coaching is something that comes pretty naturally in her family and that’s how she was brought up. Along with that, having a young person who gave so much to Michigan State and excelled in every area during her college career, from the golf course to the classroom to the community, she will serve as a role model to our current student-athletes. She was respected by everyone who came into contact with her at MSU and everyone thinks the world of her. Her passion and excitement for coaching and Michigan State is truly incredible. I’m really anxious to get her started.” In her senior season (2012-13), Powers posted six top-10 finishes in MSU’s 11 tournaments and compiled a 73.81 average, the fourth lowest in school history. Powers finished runner-up at the Big Ten Championships with a 3-over 219 and was named to the All-Championships Team for the third straight year. She closed the season ranked No. 30 in the nation by Golfweek and had the highest Golfweek/Sagarin rating in Big Ten competition with a 72.11. In addition to winning the Alderton Award (MSU Athlete of the Year) for the third time in 2013, Powers also was named the female winner of the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor and the recipient of the Chester Brewer Leadership Award. She became the first student-athlete in MSU history to receive the Alderton Award, Brewer Award and Conference Medal of Honor in the same year. Powers placed in the top five in 14 career tournaments and in the top 10 on 21 occasions, including three tournament victories (2011 Lady Buckeye Invitational, 2011 Mary Fossum Invitational, 2013 Central District Invitational). The Bowling Green, Ohio, native was named Big Ten Golfer of the Week six times in her career. In the classroom, Powers graduated in 2013 with a 3.87 GPA in elementary education and earned All-America Scholar honors from the NGCA four times and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades twice. The three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree was named the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Dinah Shore Trophy Award by the LPGA Foundation, which is awarded to a female collegiate golfer who excels in both academics and athletics, while demonstrating outstanding leadership skills and community service.

In addition, Powers was the recipient of Michigan State’s Gwendolyn Norrell Community Service & Leadership Award in 2013. The award is presented to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the goals of the PACT (Putting Athletes and Community Together) program, excelling in the field of community service and outreach. As the President of the 2012-13 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Powers actively participated in numerous events throughout the Greater Lansing area, including March is Reading Month, Chuck A Puck, Teddy Bear Toss, and the Student-Athlete Food Drive. After graduating from MSU in 2013, Powers has been playing on the Symetra Tour. She has posted 11 top-20 finishes, including a career-best fourth place at the 2014 Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan.