The Accidental Coach

The following article appeared in the Spring Edition of Bruin Blue Magazine.

By Chris Foster
 
Accidents do happen.

Occasionally that's a good thing.

Carrie Forsyth, UCLA's head women's golf coach, had walked the fairway through life, starting as a young girl — the youngest of 14 in a working-class family — swinging her mother's mended club on the driving range. She had a success-filled junior career, which included a third-place finish in the 11-12-year-old division at the 1983 Junior World Championships. She took her skills to UCLA, where she started as a walk-on and earned a scholarship.
           
By 1995, it was time to press those memories into a scrapbook and move on to a new phase of life. She began working toward becoming a paramedic, even assisting at a fire department in San Diego.
           
All that was left was to go through the interview process.

Then the telephone rang.

"My husband's college coach reached out to me and said they were starting a women's program at Cal State Northridge," Forsyth remembers. "He thought I'd be interested in looking into that. I turned in my resume, not really thinking much about it. I never dreamed that coaching would be something I wanted to do, or would interest me."

Northridge officials called back and wanted Forsyth to come in for an interview, which was the same day and time as the one in San Diego.

"I had to make a decision," she said. "I loved the idea of being a paramedic, but I was partly afraid of moving to San Diego. But also, I wanted to be outdoors. I had grown up playing golf. I realized how competitive I was as a person and I realized that's what coaching was about."

This, she decided, was not the time to putt out.

Forsyth started at CSUN and then jumped to UCLA in 1999. The Bruins have won two national titles and finished in the top 10 13 times in her 18 seasons as coach. During that tenure, 89 Bruins have been named All-American and 11 have gone on to the LPGA Tour. Mo Martin (2001-05) won the Women's British Open in 2014.

"It was all an accident," Forsyth said, smiling. "I never dreamed that coaching would be something I wanted to do."
 

 
Being the youngest of 14 children can be daunting.

"You had to almost pre-order your milk for breakfast," Forsyth joked.

On the other hand, she said, "After everyone else left the house, I was the fortunate one."

Forsyth's parents, Warren and Collette Leary, were far more blue collar than blue blood. Warren was a pilot in World War II and settled into the airplane industry before having a heart attack and having to go on disability when Carrie was in the sixth grade.

The couple also had a keen interest in golf.

"They were casual golfers," Forsyth said. "I always wanted to go with them to see what they were doing. They would drop me at my brother's house and go golfing. My brother had a son the same age as me and he was into video games. It was a different lifestyle. I was an outdoor kid."

Another brother got a job working the driving range at the Vista Valencia Golf Course which meant one thing.

"Free golf balls," Forsyth said.
 

So Forsyth started driving with a club that was shorter because it had been broken and welded back.

"My mom said it was an accident, but think it happened in anger over a shot," she said. "But she won't admit it."

Forsyth made good use of it. Her natural swing caught eyes. She was soon using her own clubs and entered the Vista Valencia junior program where she competed with the boys, "because there were no other girls," Forsyth said.

At age 11, she entered her first tournament. A year later, she finished third at the Junior World Championship, although the main thing she remembers was, "getting a hot dog and Coke at the turn."

But golf was becoming an important part of her life and she looked for ways to continue playing. Forsyth won 30 junior tournaments and played for the boys' team at Santa Clarita Canyon High School. She was the team's most valuable player as a senior.

By then, Forsyth's eyes were already on UCLA. There were scholarship offers from other universities, but she was determined to be a Bruin after visiting the campus.

It helped that UCLA Coach Jackie Tobian-Steinmann also golfed at Vista Valencia.

"Honestly, I think that's the only reason Jackie noticed me," Forsyth said. "I'm not sure what she thought of me, but she needed another player and I was willing."

Forsyth arranged financial aid and walked on. The training from that family of 14 came along.

"When you grow up fighting for food and attention, you develop an internal competitiveness," she said. "I always had a chip on my shoulder to prove I could do something."

As a freshman, Forsyth earned her way into the lineup for 11 of UCLA's 12 tournaments. She was awarded a scholarship a year later.

Though she didn't know it, the seed of how Forsyth would coach was planted.

"I think that's why I have a soft spot for walk-ons," Forsyth said. "Especially blue-collar kids. They have a desire and find a way."

Martin, who was at UCLA from 2002-05, remembered that being a reason she came to Westwood. She, like Forsyth, had scholarship offers but saw the opportunity at UCLA.

"Carrie was a walk-on herself and she ended up with a full ride," Martin told Golfweek Magazine. "When I heard that, I knew she would honor my commitment to the team and if I played well, I could earn a scholarship under her."
   
About the last thing Forsyth wanted to do was coach.

She earned a degree in psychology in 1994, spending her final year as the team's student assistant coach.

Forsyth had a plan for post-college life and it did include golf, but not as a coach.

"I had no interest," Forsyth said. "The plan was to play golf professionally and if that didn't work out, I'd go into the medical field."

Forsyth competed in some LPGA mini-tours and competed in the LPGA qualifying school in 1995. She also began working towards a career as a paramedic.

Northridge Coach Jim Bracken called and put the idea of coaching back in her head. Again, the thought of working outdoors on a golf course was tantalizing.

"I loved the medical field, still do, but that appealed to me," Forsyth said.

She took the Northridge job. The Matadors struggled those first years, but Forsyth was learning what it meant to be a coach.

"That first year, I was really young," she said. "I had to try to find players. Luckily there were a couple who were already admitted to school. I found a couple other players who were looking for an opportunity. We weren't so hot, but we had some moments."

Forsyth found reward in the learning curve.

"Getting them to break 100 was a lot of work, but fun," she said. "It was a light-bulb moment. Giving these girls an opportunity and helping them get better was really rewarding."

Still, she went through growing pains in the coach's office, just like her players did on the course.

"In the beginning, I had this idea that as a coach, you needed to dictate to your team, 'My way or the highway,' " Forsyth said. "What I realized was that every one of these kids was different and they had different needs and different learning styles."

Forsyth jumped at the chance when the UCLA job opened in 1999. It was a homecoming.

"This is a place where you come if you want to win," Forsyth said. "When you're hired, winning national championships is the goal. We've won two and have been really close a few times. That still is the goal. But you also realize that the job is to help them grow as people. You let them know you are on their side."
 

Several of her former UCLA players have continued in golf and continue to enjoy success. Stephanie Kono and Tiffany Lua were both members of the United States' Curtis Cup team. Jane Park and Maria Jose Uribe were United States Golf Association amateur champions.

"Coach Forsyth cares about each player," said Beth Wu, a junior on the UCLA team. "She helps you to understand things better, like course management or the mental aspect of the game."

The lessons go beyond the course.

"She cares about winning, but also cares about you as a student and a person," Wu said.

All of which is rewarding.

"I also learned what a joy it is to see players go on and become successful," Forsyth said. "Some in tournaments, some in the business world, some as mothers."

None of which, with Forsyth as their coach, happens by accident.