Anne Walker, the head coach of Stanford Women's Golf, discusses her coaching philosophy, the current season, and the dynamics of her team as they prepare to defend their national championship title. She shares insights on balancing competition with recovery, integrating freshmen into the team, and the evolution of women's college golf. Walker emphasizes the importance of player development, mental resilience, and the impact of external factors on the sport.

On Preparing for the Season and Peaking at the Right Time:
“We take a whole year approach, January to December. We actually don't look at it as a September to May. And then once we look at the January to December and we plug in, what's the, it's usually give or take, you know, they only really have the capacity to peak somewhere in the range of four to eight weeks, six is probably realistic. What are those six weeks? Let's circle them in the calendar and then let's try to do our very best to be ramping up to just strike it right. Be your best when your best is needed.”

On the Challenges of Being a Defending Champion:
“There's nothing to defend. This group hasn't actually won anything together or they have, but they haven't won a national championship together. So there's nothing for this group to actually defend… Again, that's one of the pleasures of being in college golf is that every year is a new year, every year is a goal.”

On Coaching Philosophy and Player Development:
“You can really change the vector of someone's direction in life, trajectory in life. And that's such a privilege. So taking that privilege and realizing it's a privilege and not getting bogged down in the, ‘Did you shoot 65 today? Did you shoot 75 today?’ But remembering that’s just on the sidelines. The real goal here is to move these women forward in life in whatever it is they're trying to do.”

On the Evolution of a College Golfer’s Mindset Toward Turning Pro:
“Junior year, they start to think about, ‘Oh my gosh, I just passed the 50% mark. I'm halfway through college. I need to start thinking about what’s next.’ And then by senior year, for the most part, they're pretty singularly focused and directional towards competing as a professional… So being okay with uncertainty is really important."