University of North Texas Athletics
Cox Shining On, Off Course For Mean Green
3/7/2019 9:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DENTON – Lauren Cox was a high school senior with what she hoped was a promising collegiate golf career ahead of her back in May 2016.
One day, she sent in her national letter of intent, sealing her future as a Mean Green women's golfer.
The next day, the university announced the hiring of a new women's golf coach.
Needless to say, it shook her a bit.
"It was very surprising," Cox said, looking back at the day Michael Akers was announced as the replacement for interim head coach Barry Niemann, who recruited Cox out of Orange, Texas. "I was very glad he held the commitment the other coach made and he didn't turn me away. My parents and I thought it was a great opportunity for me. We said we'd give it a year to see how it goes. He met me during the summer before I came at a tournament in The Woodlands, and he was very nice but he didn't recruit me and he came from a really good program, so I was a little intimidated."
The unorthodox start to her college career has worked out for both sides, and the junior has been the team's leading scorer for the past year and a half. This year, she has four top-20 finishes in five tournaments, and the one outlier was a 26th-place showing at the Betsy Rawls Invitational in the fall.
As great as Cox has been for UNT, and as much as the relationship between she and her coach has grown, Akers wasn't always so sure about what he was inheriting in Cox when he arrived in Denton from Texas State to rebuild the women's program.
That summer before she enrolled, he met her at a tournament and saw her play. Akers saw some technique issues, a few which he still continues to work with her to correct. But he didn't know then what he knows now about Cox's personality and her work ethic – and the fact she contacts the ball exactly where she's supposed to.
Cox missed the travel team for the first two tournaments of her collegiate career but made the cut for the third tournament of her freshman year. Since then, she's never looked back and never missed a trip.
"I had no idea about her work ethic or personality or anything like that," Akers said. "Starting off in the fall, she was timid, as most freshmen are. She wasn't playing great and didn't crack the lineup.
"I just saw her keep working, and she was very coachable. She did everything we asked her to do," he added. "Her personality is just great. She takes care of business in the classroom, which is great. She's modest, too. She's very competitive internally, which I like. I think by the spring of her freshman year, her relationship with me had grown and by sophomore year, she really blossomed. It's been great."
Akers doesn't just see Cox's benefit to the team on the course, either. In a sport such as college golf that is more of an individual sport with a team setting, Cox is the quiet leader who sets a standard by example. She has also played a large role, along with the team's other upperclassmen, in acclimating two freshmen into the mix this year.
Patricia Sinolungan and had just turned 17 years old and Audrey Tan was still 16 years old when they arrived on campus in August, and both are from halfway around the world – Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively.
It didn't take long for them to feel welcomed. The older players take turns giving them rides, and Cox takes them to church every Sunday. She took it a step further over the Thanksgiving break when she took Sinolungan and Tan home with her to Orange to show them their first taste of the American tradition.
Tan was immediately sold.
"The food was amazing," Tan said, before a huge smile appeared on her face. "Her mom makes amazing pecan pie. I'm just going to put that out there."
In all seriousness, Tan was appreciative of the gesture and said her teammates, specifically Cox, have helped her feel welcomed and comfortable in a completely new environment with no family close by.
"It meant a lot because we were so far from home," Tan said. "I was homesick. This is such an unfamiliar territory for me and she became someone I could really rely on. In this sort of environment that I'm not used to, she provided a really good support and a really good friend."
As great as Cox has become on the course – Akers believes she could end up breaking Randi Gauthier's 16-year-old program record for lowest scoring average over a season (74.62) – perhaps it's what she's done off the course that tells more about Cox as a well-rounded member of the program.
"She's as good as it gets," Akers said. "It's definitely going to be sad a year from now when she's wrapping up her career here because she's been really great. I'm thrilled to death at how far she's come. She thinks big. She's just a great person."
One day, she sent in her national letter of intent, sealing her future as a Mean Green women's golfer.
The next day, the university announced the hiring of a new women's golf coach.
Needless to say, it shook her a bit.
"It was very surprising," Cox said, looking back at the day Michael Akers was announced as the replacement for interim head coach Barry Niemann, who recruited Cox out of Orange, Texas. "I was very glad he held the commitment the other coach made and he didn't turn me away. My parents and I thought it was a great opportunity for me. We said we'd give it a year to see how it goes. He met me during the summer before I came at a tournament in The Woodlands, and he was very nice but he didn't recruit me and he came from a really good program, so I was a little intimidated."
The unorthodox start to her college career has worked out for both sides, and the junior has been the team's leading scorer for the past year and a half. This year, she has four top-20 finishes in five tournaments, and the one outlier was a 26th-place showing at the Betsy Rawls Invitational in the fall.
As great as Cox has been for UNT, and as much as the relationship between she and her coach has grown, Akers wasn't always so sure about what he was inheriting in Cox when he arrived in Denton from Texas State to rebuild the women's program.
That summer before she enrolled, he met her at a tournament and saw her play. Akers saw some technique issues, a few which he still continues to work with her to correct. But he didn't know then what he knows now about Cox's personality and her work ethic – and the fact she contacts the ball exactly where she's supposed to.
Cox missed the travel team for the first two tournaments of her collegiate career but made the cut for the third tournament of her freshman year. Since then, she's never looked back and never missed a trip.
"I had no idea about her work ethic or personality or anything like that," Akers said. "Starting off in the fall, she was timid, as most freshmen are. She wasn't playing great and didn't crack the lineup.
"I just saw her keep working, and she was very coachable. She did everything we asked her to do," he added. "Her personality is just great. She takes care of business in the classroom, which is great. She's modest, too. She's very competitive internally, which I like. I think by the spring of her freshman year, her relationship with me had grown and by sophomore year, she really blossomed. It's been great."
Akers doesn't just see Cox's benefit to the team on the course, either. In a sport such as college golf that is more of an individual sport with a team setting, Cox is the quiet leader who sets a standard by example. She has also played a large role, along with the team's other upperclassmen, in acclimating two freshmen into the mix this year.
Patricia Sinolungan and had just turned 17 years old and Audrey Tan was still 16 years old when they arrived on campus in August, and both are from halfway around the world – Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively.
It didn't take long for them to feel welcomed. The older players take turns giving them rides, and Cox takes them to church every Sunday. She took it a step further over the Thanksgiving break when she took Sinolungan and Tan home with her to Orange to show them their first taste of the American tradition.
Tan was immediately sold.
"The food was amazing," Tan said, before a huge smile appeared on her face. "Her mom makes amazing pecan pie. I'm just going to put that out there."
In all seriousness, Tan was appreciative of the gesture and said her teammates, specifically Cox, have helped her feel welcomed and comfortable in a completely new environment with no family close by.
"It meant a lot because we were so far from home," Tan said. "I was homesick. This is such an unfamiliar territory for me and she became someone I could really rely on. In this sort of environment that I'm not used to, she provided a really good support and a really good friend."
As great as Cox has become on the course – Akers believes she could end up breaking Randi Gauthier's 16-year-old program record for lowest scoring average over a season (74.62) – perhaps it's what she's done off the course that tells more about Cox as a well-rounded member of the program.
"She's as good as it gets," Akers said. "It's definitely going to be sad a year from now when she's wrapping up her career here because she's been really great. I'm thrilled to death at how far she's come. She thinks big. She's just a great person."
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