TOWSON, Md. – Towson University Director of Athletics Tim Leonard has named Shannon Briggs as its head women's golf coach.
 
Briggs comes to Towson from Longwood where she spent the past five seasons.
  
Under Briggs Longwood finished the regular season with a second place finish at the Appalachian State Intercollegiate. Longwood also received the Big South Sportsmanship Award consecutively for women's golf in 2017 and 2018.
 
"I am excited to have Shannon join the Tiger family," Leonard said. "During an accelerated search process, Shannon's passion for the student-athlete experience, commitment to excellence and desire to work at Towson really stood out. I am looking forward to introducing Shannon to the team and the Maryland golf community."
 
Briggs is a certified coach through the PGA of Canada and has logged over 3,500 golf industry hours. Her golf experience spans nearly 20 years as a player and coach, including her four years on the women's team at Grand Valley State University.
 
A native of Fonthill, Ontario, and member of the prestigious course Lookout Point, Briggs posted early low rounds placing second at the Ontario Juniors and was named to the provincial and inter-province teams. Briggs excelled at athletics in high school, being named the Female Athlete of the Year for her graduating class at Notre Dame in Welland.
 
"I am so honored and grateful to Tim Leonard, Tricia Brandenburg and the professional committee for presenting me the opportunity to be here at Towson University," Briggs said. "The energy and professionalism is prevalent across campus and I am excited to continue the pursuits alongside a very supportive administrative team. I look forward to working with such a talented group of student athletes to continue to move the program forward." 
 
Briggs' collegiate career at Grand Valley State included an NCAA tournament win and four straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) academic and athletic all-conference awards. As a team captain during her freshman year, she helped guide Grand Valley State to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II Tournament while earning All-GLIAC honors that year.
 
Briggs graduated from Grand Valley State in 2005 and received her bachelor of business administration degree in management and marketing with an emphasis in finance. Her career at Longwood signals her return to the United States after spending the past eight years in British Columbia.
 
Briggs' resume outside of golf is equally impressive.
 
In addition to being a certified teacher of yoga for golfers, she is an accomplished skier and a Red Bull Crashed Ice competitor and was a member of the Grand Valley State club ski and hockey teams as an undergraduate. Briggs was also a member of the British Columbia Ski Cross Team in 2009 and has trained with the Canadian National Olympic Team. In 2004, she traveled to Duluth, Minnesota, to compete in the Red Bull Crashed Ice event – a sport that combines downhill skiing and ice skating – and placed third in the women's division.
  
Before coaching at Longwood, Briggs came to Towson from Vancouver, British Columbia, where she was most recently a certified professional golf coach at international golf training center franchise GolfTEC. She is affiliated with the Professional Golfers' Association of Canada and Taylor Made Ltd. Briggs has participated in Women's PGA Canada Tour events and had immediate success at Longwood.  A member of Briggs' Longwood team, Courtney Tolton won the 2017 Towson Invitational. 
 
The Tigers begin their 2019-20 season at the Bucknell Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14 and Sunday, Sept. 15.