Washington State alumna Emma White was named assistant coach of the Washington State women’s golf team heading into the 2014-15 season.
White has spent nearly the past decade on the Palouse as an assistant coach at her alma mater. WSU has experienced a great deal of success under White’s tutelage, as several team and individual records have been set under her watch. Each of the program’s top-seven single-season scoring averages has occurred during her tenure, while the Cougars have experienced some of its greatest success at the Pac-12 Championship with White on the staff.
In addition to three tournament titles under her assistance, White has guided five Cougar women’s golfers to an individual tournament title, with the most recent coming at the end of the 2019-20 season when Amy Chu and Marie Lund-Hansen each tied for first at the 2020 Meadow Club Invitational.
White guided Alivia Brown to the 2015 NCAA Championships, making her the second individual golfer from WSU to earn a bid into the NCAA Championship field. White also assisted Darcy Habgood in collecting WSU’s first top-10 individual finish at a Pac-12 Championship in 13 seasons, with Habgood finishing tied for ninth at the 2022 Pac-12 Championship. Three of Washington State’s best individual career scoring averages have occurred on White’s watch with Alivia Brown (1st; 73.79), Marie Lund-Hansen (2nd; 74.11), and Darcy Habgood (3rd; 74.80) holding the top three slots in WSU history.
The program has excelled academically under White, as Washington State women’s golfers have earned 36 selections to the All-Pac-12 Academic Team/Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll during her tenure. Washington State has also helped 10 WSU’s women’s golfers earn a total of 23 WGCA All-American Scholar selections in her nine seasons as an assistant coach.
Washington State has set the program record for the lowest team scoring average for a season on three separate occasions with White on the staff. The first occurrence came during White’s first season as an assistant in 2014-15, as WSU held a season scoring average of 299.45 strokes per round.
The Cougars bested that mark the very next season, as the 2015-16 squad posted a scoring average of 297.56 strokes per round to set a new program best. That record would stand for only two seasons, as the 2017-18 Washington State women’s golf team held a season scoring average of 295.77 to set a school record that still stands to date.
More recently, White helped guide Darcy Habgood to the third-best finish by a WSU golfer at the Pac-12 Championship by tying for ninth at the 2022 conference championship. It was Washington State’s first individual top-10 finish at a conference championship since Amy Eneroth placed ninth at the 2003 Pac-12 Championship. The 2021-22 squad posted the fifth-best scoring average in program history at 298.38 strokes per round.
White capped off the 2019-20 season by helping guide Amy Chu and Marie Lund-Hansen to a shared individual title at the 2020 Meadow Club Invitational in Fairfax, California. The season ended abruptly after the Meadow Club Invitational, as the remainder of the year was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the shortened campaign, WSU was still able to post the fourth-best scoring average in team history at 298.06 strokes per round.
During the 2018-19 campaign, White helped the Cougars post their fifth-best three-round score at a Pac-12 Conference Championship, as WSU shot 903 (+51) at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, California.
In 2017-18, the Cougars played some of their best golf in program history and it resulted in WSU setting the school record for the lowest team scoring average at 295.77 strokes per round. At the 2018 Pac-12 Championship, Washington State recorded the program’s second-best 54-hole score at the conference championship tournament, as the Cougars shot 896 (+32) at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle to finish eighth overall, which tied for the program’s second-best finish at the Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championship. WSU opened the season by winning the Cougar Cup for the third time in four seasons.
During the 2016-17 campaign, White guided junior Alivia Brown to a career-best second-place finish at the Golfweek Conference Challenge, Sept. 26-28. Brown concluded her WSU career fourth in top-10 career finishes in WSU women’s golf history with 13. The 2016-17 squad also collected the third-lowest scoring average in program history at 298.00 strokes per round.
White got her second team win as an assistant coach in the fall of the 2015-16 season, as Washington State defended its team title at the 2015 Cougar Cup. White helped the Cougars post their best performance at a conference tournament as a team at the 2016 Pac-12 Championship. WSU set the program records for the lowest single-round and three-round scores at a conference championship event. Washington State shot 1-under; 287 in the first round at the Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton, California, then went on to card 884 (+20) over 54 holes of play to set the school record for the lowest three-round score in a Pac-12 Championship.
In her first season as an assistant coach at Washington State in 2014-15, White helped then freshman Alivia Brown earn a bid to the 2015 NCAA Championship. Brown earned her place into the NCAA Championship field after finishing sixth at the 2015 NCAA St. George Regional, making her the first freshman, and only the second women’s golfer in WSU history, to earn a bid to the NCAA Championship. White began her assistant coaching career with a team win, as Washington State won the 2014 Cougar Cup at Palouse Ridge in her debut tournament.
A 2013 graduate of Washington State, then Emma Betland was a four-year letterwinner for the Cougars from 2010-13. The Australian native led Washington State in scoring average during her freshman and sophomore campaigns. She finished in the top 25 in 13 tournaments during her career. A conference academic honorable mention selection, White spent the first year after graduation in her native country then was hired by Kelli Kamimura prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.
White is married to Washington State Men’s Golf Head Coach, Dustin White. The couple resides in Pullman with their son Finn. She is a LPGA Class B teaching professional and is TPI Certified Level One.
