Shannon Briggs was hired as the head coach for the Towson women's golf program in 2018. She came to Towson from Longwood where she spent the previous five seasons.
The Black & Gold saw their highest finish since 2021 during the 2023-24 slate, placing second out of 15 teams at the Navy Fall Invitational. The Tigers put up scores of 305 and 308 backed by five scores of 77 or lower. The team had the highest amount of pars in the tournament, logging 105 across 36 holes. Madison Barber was the top finisher for the team, placing second after rounds of 72 and 75. Faith McIlvain earned a top-10 finish as well, tying for eighth. At the UNCG Fall Invitational the team tied for sixth out of 19 teams. Barber led the team again as the top finisher for the Tigers, tying for eighth. The graduate student set a new program record for 9-hole score as she fired a 31 for the front nine of her second round. Barber followed up with a career low 70 during her second round. Following these two tournaments, Barber picked up back-to-back CAA Women's Golfer of the Week honors. At conference championships the team finished sixth out of 10 teams, moving up one spot between rounds.
The team saw two top-5 finishes during the 2022-23 season. At the William & Mary Fall Invitational, the team finished fifth out of 10 teams after rounds of 303, 298 and 309 to finish 46-over par. Odette Font Garcia tied for seventh out of 59 players after shooting 2-over pars with rounds of 71, 73, and 74. At the CAA Tournament the team saw another fifth place finish after shooting 305, 308 and 309. Four Tigers finished in the top-25 individually led by Faith McIlvain who tied for 10th with rounds of 77, 74 and 75.
Towson played a shortened 2021 slate, competing in three tournaments in addition to the CAA Tournament. Briggs saw her first top individual finisher since coming to Towson as Julia Calomiris came in first at the Navy Spring Invitational after shooting 153 (+9). The team places second in the tournament, their highest finish of the spring, accumulating 660 strokes (+84) after 36 holes. To end the season, Briggs guided the Tigers to a fifth place finish at the conference tournament, led by Calomiris who finished in 15th place with a total tournament score of 233 (+17).
The Tigers’ spring 2020 season was cut short and the team did not see action in fall 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
During her first season as coach, Towson enjoyed a fall campaign of growth that featured several outstanding accomplishments. It was encouraging because Towson won the Towson Invitational and finish third overall at the Bucknell Invitational and Starmount Fall Classic. Trailing St. John’s by eight strokes entering the final round, the Tigers shot a final round 292 to storm from behind and win their fifth Towson Invitational championship in program history. Led by collegiate career low rounds of one-under 71 from sophomores Jayla Kang and Julia Calomiris, the Tigers shot their second best round in program history. Towson and St. John's each finished with a two-round score of 597, which is also the second best 36-hole score in program history.
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 as a Class A Professional and Callaway Golf 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.
