Women's Golf
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- ajnewell@umich.edu
- Phone:
- (734) 615-6928
AJ Newell begins her fourth year as a collegiate coach serving as the assistant coach with the University of Michigan women's golf program under head coach Jan Dowling.
No strangers to each other, Dowling and Newell worked together once before when Newell was a sophomore at the University of Tennessee during the 2012-13 season and Dowling was her assistant coach. The following season, Dowling left to take over the Michigan program.
During a five-year professional career, Newell made eight starts on the LPGA Tour in 2018 and played 35 events on the Symetra Tour (2016-20) before a back injury and subsequent surgery forced her retirement in 2020. She made 13 cuts on the Symetra Tour, highlighted by a tie for fourth at the 2017 Fuccillo Kia Classic of New York and a seventh-place finish at the 2017 IOA Golf Classic. She also tied for 10th at the 2018 Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout.
Before heading to Ann Arbor, Newell was a golf professional at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair Beach, Fla. With more than 20 dedicated students, she ran a summer golf camp for ages 6-15. She was also instrumental in founding the Pelican Fitness Center.
She has volunteered and taught golf with the First Tee program at Cheval Golf Club and Fox Hollow Golf Club in Tampa, Fla. Following her collegiate career, she began teaching at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn.
During her four years at Tennessee (2012-15), Newell played in 38 career tournaments and posted seven top-10 finishes while leading the Volunteers to four straight NCAA regional bids and two NCAA Finals (2012 and 2015). As a senior, she was named a Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-America honorable mention and tied for seventh at the NCAA Finals. That same season she earned her first collegiate victory at the Westbrook Spring Invitational and was the runner-up at the Golfweek Conference Challenge.
In addition to her career year as a senior, Newell assisted in teaching a Master of Business Administration program class designed to introduce female students to the fundamentals of golf to help them succeed in the business world.
Homeschooled and self-taught golf, Newell earned five varsity letters and was a captain for two years at Northside Christian High School in St. Petersburg, Fla. She closed her prep career leading Northside Christian to its second straight Class A runner-up team finish at the Florida Class A Championships, as she tied for third (73-68/141, -3) after closing as the runner-up the year prior (70-72/142, -2) following a playoff for the state crown.
In her spare time, Newell is an avid student of history and World War II history and visits historical sites while traveling. In March of 2023, she married Dan Lavin.
The AJ Newell File
Born: April 9, 1993
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
High School: Home Schooled, 2011
College: University of Tennessee, 2015 (Communications with a journalism minor
Family: Husband (Dan Lavin)
Coaching Record
| Year | College | Position | Conference | Regional | NCAA/Match Play |
| 2021-22 | Michigan | Assistant Coach | 1st | t-3rd | 20th |
| 2022-23 | Michigan | Assistant Coach | 6th | 9th | -- |
| 2023-24 | Michigan | Assistant Coach | t-4th | 9th | -- |
| 2024-25 | Michigan | Assistant Coach | -- | -- | -- |
NCAA Championships
NCAA Finals (1): 2022
Team Regional (3): 2022, '23, '24
Conference Championships
Big Ten (1): 2022 -- first in program history
Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American
Ashley Lau: 2021 (HM), 2022 (1st) -- first in program history
Monet Chun: 2024 (HM)
Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar
Anika Dy: 2022, '23
Mikaela Schulz: 2021, '22, '23
All-Big Ten
Hailey Borja: 2022 (1st), 2023 (2nd), 2024 (2nd)
Monet Chun: 2022 (2nd), 2023 (2nd), 2024 (1st)
Ashley Lau: 2022 (1st)
Mikaela Schulz: 2022 (2nd)
Big Ten Golfer of the Year
Ashley Lau: 2022 -- first in program history
Monet Chun: 2024
Big Ten Championship Medalist
Monet Chun: 2022 (205, -8)
Monet Chun: 2024 (209, -7)
Big Ten's Mary Fossum Award (lowest average)
Ashley Lau: 2022 (71.84)
Monet Chun: 2024 (71.97)
Big Ten Distinguish Scholar
Ashley Lau: 2022
Mikaela Schulz: 2022, '23
Academic All-Big Ten
Hailey Borja: 2022, '23, '24
Monet Chun: 2022, '23, '24
Anika Dy: 2022, '23
Mara Janess: 2024
Ashley Lau: 2022
Emilie Paltrinieri: 2024
Mikael Schulz: 2022, '23, '24
Lauren Sung: 2024
Sydney Sung: 2024
Sophia Trombetta: 2022
Jacqueline Young: 2022
