The Oregon State women's golf program is in its 22nd year under the guidance of coach Risë (pronounced REE-suh) Lakowske. In that time, the program has been a consistent postseason contender with 10 team appearances at NCAA Regional events. Her 1998 squad became the first OSU women's team to qualify for the NCAA Championships, and she was named Far West District Coach of the Year.
In her time at OSU, she has had players earn Pac-10 All-Academic honors 22 times and NCGA All-American Scholar status 13 times.
Lakowske has served the National Golf Coaches Association for the past 13 years, spending eight years as a member of the Division I Awards Committee and six years as a member of the NGCA Board of Directors. In 2005, she received the NGCA Founders Award for outstanding service to the NGCA, women's collegiate golf and the local community. An Oregon State graduate, Lakowske competed for the Beavers from 1973-77. She played in four AIAW National Championships and won two collegiate events and several non-collegiate tournaments during her career.
Lakowske, who graduated as Risë Alexander in 1977, was also a two-sport athlete, playing basketball during the winter months at OSU. Lakowske's overall talents prompted her former basketball and golf coach, Mary Covington, to comment: "Risë is demanding of herself. She enters all her tournaments and works very hard at her sport. I've noticed one thing about first-class athletes like Risë - though they ask a great deal of themselves, they are never demanding of anyone else."
She came to Oregon State to pursue a history degree. After graduating with honors from OSU in 1977, Lakowske went on to compete professionally until 1981. She also served as the volunteer head coach for OSU in 1978-79, 1982-83 and 1983-84, and was hired as the full-time head coach before the 1990-91 season.
As an amateur competitor, she was a semifinalist in the 1973 Western Junior Championship and also a semifinalist in the 1976 U.S. Women's Amateur. The U.S. Amateur finish exempted her from U.S. Open qualifiers for three consecutive years. These experiences gave her a great understanding of the demands of golf.
Born in Laurel, Miss., Lakowske grew up in Hot Springs, Ark., and began playing golf at the age of eight. She had a spectacular junior golf career that included two Arkansas Junior Championships, two Arkansas High School Championships and Oregon High School and Pacific Northwest Junior Championships.
Lakowske's coaching philosophy centers around recognizing the individual talents of each of her players.
"Every person has different talents, different interests, different swings and different self-talk," Lakowske said.
Learning to enhance those differences and developing her team into a positive and strongly competitive unit is her primary goal.
"We want every player at Oregon State to have a great college experience in every sense," she said. "The student-athlete here is recognized as an individual with exceptional talent, not just a golfer with a score to provide."
Lakowske is a believer in developing the player as a whole and teaching the mental as well as the physical side of the game. She also teaches student-athletes how to achieve goals through developing their intrinsic motivation and a belief in their strengths.
"Managing themselves emotionally and their golf game on the course is a key component to the success of this team," Lakowske said.
Risë and her husband, Mason, both graduates of OSU, have resided in Corvallis since 1981. They have two children: Laura, a graduate of Texas A&M University, and Joey, a senior at Oregon State.
