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The Winningest Division I Coach in Women’s Golf

Duke’s Dan Brooks is the reigning Women’s Golf Coaches Association Coach of the Year

In his 31 years as head coach of Duke's women's golf team, Dan Brooks has amassed 120 team victories. Photo courtesy of Duke Athletics.
In his 31 years as head coach of Duke's women's golf team, Dan Brooks has amassed 120 team victories. Photo courtesy of Duke Athletics.

Name: Dan BrooksPosition: Head coach, women’s golfYears at Duke: 31

What I do at Duke: It’s not just coaching, because we spend a lot of time together. One thing that’s really important is ensuring everybody’s happy and feeling good because you play better golf if there’s balance in your life. I’ll spend time checking in with everybody, and with seven people on the team, it makes it easy to stay in contact with each student-athlete. 

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If I had $5 million, I would: I’ve been so fortunate I’d want to use the money to do something positive for others, particularly with education in the U.S.

My first ever job: In high school, I worked as a janitor at the Baker Community Kindergarten in Oregon. I cleaned up squashed cupcakes and paint off the walls – everything you could imagine a kindergartener could do to mess up a room. I spent my sophomore year working there as an afterschool job.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: My hometown, Baker City, Oregon. It’s in the northeast corner of the state, and with under 10,000 people, it’s still the biggest town within 50 miles. It’s in the countryside, which is incredible. You’re within a couple hours of Hells Canyon, the deepest river gorge in North America, there’s wilderness all around you and mountains that go up to 9,500 feet. On a clear day, you can stand on the mountains and see clear across the state.

The best advice I ever received: When I went to college, a friend of mine told me to just act like you know what you’re doing, which I think is advice that helps my student-athletes, too. If you want to be confident, sometimes you can fake it a little and it works. Pretty soon you’ll have an idea of what you’re doing and that confidence is important in golf.

What I love about Duke: That Duke Athletics stands for values like leadership and prides itself on academics. Other schools may say they stand for those things, but I’ve watched our athletic department follow through on it on a consistent basis and I’m very proud of that.

When I’m not at work, I like to: Get back to Oregon. I try to get back there four times a year to see family. I also love to read and learn. I got my Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies from Duke in the early 90s. For my final project, I interviewed Eastern European students who came to America – the Berlin Wall hadn’t been down long. I wanted to know what their idea of freedom and democracy was and compared their ideas with Europeans who had been here a longer period of time.

An interesting/memorable day at work for me: The last day of nationals in 2014 was a great feeling. We were leading by 10 shots and lost the lead, but turned it around and won with 13 birdies on the back nine holes. My two seniors shot really well, too. It was great to see players step up when we needed it.

The skills I bring to my work: I’ve developed an ability to read people well, so I think I’m capable of pulling out intrinsic motivation. I want to find what gives someone the desire to work hard instead of just forcing it on them. It’s about cultivating an inner drive and developing relationships with student-athletes.