Fresno State Athletics
Angie Cates Selected as Head Women's Golf Coach
 | Angie Cates was named Fresno State's new women's golf coach and will begin her duties within a month. |
Nov. 26, 2003
FRESNO, Calif.- Angie Cates, who has been the assistant coach for the men's and women's golf teams at Oregon State University for the last three years, has been selected as the head coach for the Fresno State women's golf team Athletics Director Scott Johnson announcement today.
Cates will begin her duties with the newly formed women's golf team within a month. Fresno State announced on April 17, 2003, that women's golf would be added as a varsity intercollegiate sport, beginning play in the 2004-05 academic year.
"We are very pleased someone of Angie's talents and abilities will become the inaugural coach of our women's golf program," Johnson said. "This is an exciting time and we are thrilled to get Angie on board and work with her to build the program. Angie beat out a very good pool of local and national candidates for the position. I believe her background as a highly successful collegiate and professional player and as an assistant coach from a successful Pac-10 men's and women's program will make her an excellent head coach. I know her many ties to the national collegiate and professional golf communities will enhance our program's stature. I believe she is an excellent fit for what we need to get our program started."
Cates was in her third season as the assistant coach for both the men's and women's golf programs at Oregon State. While at Oregon State, she helped both the men's and women's teams advance to the NCAA regional championships in 2003. She served as the tournament director for the 2003 Women's Pac-10 Championship and the 2002 Men's Pac-10 Championship tournaments. She coordinated team practices, recruiting, travel directed the academic programs, camps and clinics for both teams. Additionally, she assisted with scheduling and budget development and organized fund raising projects.
"This is an incredible opportunity," Cates said. "I'm excited to build a women's golf program at Fresno State. The community really supports Fresno State athletics and I'm looking forward to becoming a part of the Bulldog Family. While I was in Fresno, I was impressed with the environment and I really liked the people I met. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and working in such a positive environment. I will be hitting the recruiting trail immediately to begin building a team. There are a lot of talented players in the Central Valley of California who have not signed yet and I'm going to work as hard as I can to keep them in the state."
A native of Woodinville, Wash., Cates played at Washington State, where she was a stellar student-athlete, being selected an All-American Scholar-Athlete three times. She represented the Pac-10 on an All-Star team that toured Asia. Cates was named a team captain for the Cougars as a senior.
"Angie leaving Oregon State is definitely our loss but I'm very happy for her," said Oregon State men's golf coach Brian Watts. "She will be a great head coach and Fresno State will soon learn that they are very fortunate to get a person of her integrity, knowledge, skills, and especially her good attitude. We will miss her. Fresno State will have an excellent program in a short period of time."
An accomplished player, Cates won the Seattle City Amateur and Washington State Amateur Championships. Subsequently, she was granted a sponsor's exemption to play in the LPGA Safeco Classic in Seattle that same year. She played professionally from 2002-03 on the Challenge and Future Tours, claiming a second-place in the Telluride Classic.
Following graduation, Cates worked for three years at The Golf Channel, finishing there as an associated producer. She coordinated interviews with players from the PGA, LPGA, Nike/BUY.com and Senior Tours. She produced features and worked on live television golf broadcasts.
Cates earned a bachelor's degree in Communication with an emphasis in Broadcast News from Washington State's Edward R. Murrow School of Communication in 1998.