Blaine and Katie Woodruff enjoy a laugh at this summer’s Tennessee Women’s Amateur Championship
photo by Tennessee Golf Association
During the early years of their relationship, Blaine and Katie Woodruff knew how special it was to be able to share their passion for coaching alongside each other.
Blaine was serving as assistant coach for Pepperdine’s men’s golf team, while Katie had a similar role with the women’s program. It was a slice of life they both cherished, recognizing that the uncertainties of the coaching profession would likely never provide such an opportunity again.
When Blaine made the move from Pepperdine to take over the men’s golf program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the summer of 2022, the culmination of his goal to become a college head coach carried with it a temporary sacrifice from Katie.
Katie had just completed her third season as an assistant coach with the women’s golf program at Southern Cal, and the transition to Chattanooga brought a pause to her own coaching career. Little did she know how the next three years would transform her life, preparing her for something she and Blaine dared to dream about years earlier.
Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Mark Wharton announced on Friday that Katie would be assuming the position of interim head coach of women’s golf at UTC, creating the unique distinction of having a husband-wife tandem in charge of the respective golf programs at the same university. Katie replaces long-time coach Colette Murray, who was in her 19th season at Chattanooga.
“I’m probably most excited that I get to do it with Blaine,” Katie said. “We’ve talked about it since we were both at Pepperdine how cool it was to coach together. I think they knew that I wanted to get back into coaching eventually. Honestly, we love it here.”
The past few years have presented the Woodruffs with seasons of unbridled joy along with unspeakable sorrow. In March 2023, the couple experienced the heartbreaking death of their daughter, Riley, mere days before her expected arrival due to an unforeseen umbilical cord incident. While the loss of their daughter is something that will always linger, it was replaced by elation in the summer of ’24 when they were blessed with a son, Maverick.
Despite two pregnancies and a return to competitive golf, Katie did not completely walk away from coaching since moving to Chattanooga. She helped out Cal’s women’s program two years ago when their long-time head coach was forced to take a medical leave of absence, and she was in her second year serving as a volunteer assistant for the North Georgia women’s program this fall.
During her sabbatical from coaching, Katie has proven that she still has plenty of game despite balancing her duties as a mother and wife. After winning the Tennessee Women’s Mid-Amateur crown two years ago, she had a stellar summer by winning the Chattanooga Women’s Golf Association city title, finishing second in the Tennessee Women’s Amateur and advancing to the Round of 32 in last week’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in Pebble Beach, Calif.
While golf has always served as a connection to their relationship, the focal point of the Woodruff’s union has always been their deep and abiding faith in God. It has been the bedrock of their marriage that has gotten them through difficult times, and it has only gotten stronger as they have witnessed God’s providence unfold in their lives.
The couple met at Pepperdine when Katie arrived in 2016 following a successful college career that concluded at Louisville by way of one season at Central Florida and two years at Florida. Blaine had played at South Carolina, then started his coaching career at Wisconsin before making his way westward to Pepperdine. During his five seasons there, Pepperdine won the NCAA championship in 2021, and he was regarded as one of the rising stars in college coaching.
In Blaine’s first season, the Mocs advanced to the NCAA Championship as a team for the first time in 11 years before making it to Regionals the next year.
While Katie will guide the Mocs through the final tournament in the fall schedule as well as next spring’s slate of events, having someone with her experience and pedigree was a huge coup for Wharton.
Katie helped guide USC to a 2021 Pac-12 title among five tournament wins in nine events as the Trojans boasted three All-Americans that included the top-ranked player nationally in Allisen Corpuz. In her first year at USC, Katie was part of leading the Trojans to the No. 1 ranking before COVID shortened the season.
During her three years at Pepperdine, Katie helped guide the Waves to the West Coast Conference title in 2019 as well as an appearance at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
Now, she and Blaine will become the “first family” of UTC golf, sharing their experiences and gleaning each other’s wisdom in guiding the Chattanooga golf at least through next May.
“We were both assistants when we lived in California, and we joked that we would probably never be able to do it again and live in the same city,” Blaine said. “It’s just so hard for that to possibly happen. But I also know that she loves coaching, and she loves making an impact on those girls. It kind of worked out in a perfect scenario for her to be interim and just see if she liked it, being in a different stage of life with us having a little one. We have so much fun doing that together so I think the opportunity is just really exciting.”
There is a sweetness to their relationship that helps create stability and a family atmosphere. Whenever possible, Blaine would serve as Katie’s caddie during her competitions, although a conflict with the men’s team didn’t allow him to accompany her to the recent U.S. Women’s Mid-Am. Instead, her father, Mitch Mitchell, was on her bag while her mother tended to Maverick.
Katie returned the favor back in August when Blaine dipped his toe into the competitive arena for the first time in years by playing in the Tennessee Mid-Amateur, shooting 2-over to finish tied for 19th.
Only time will tell how this will ultimately play out for the Woodruffs. There will be plenty of overlap in their daily schedules, whether at their offices inside McKenzie Arena, at the UTC practice facility or accompanying their teams during practice rounds and tournaments.
But for now, they are able to see their passion for coaching and molding young lives come full circle as head coaches. It is a special time both for the Woodruffs and UTC golf that should be celebrated this season.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com
Paul Payne
photo by Michael Tomshack
