This year’s NCGA Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which took place Oct. 16 at Silverado Resort, was a celebration but with somber tones.
Those honored were amateur greats Tina Barker and Jeff Burda, both in the Player Achievement category, Bruce Baker for Distinguished Service and Cal women’s golf legend Nancy McDaniel for Lifetime Achievement.
Sadly, just a week after the event, McDaniel, who did not attend but was represented by her husband Jay, died after a long fight against cancer.
After garnering back-to-back Pac-10 and West Regional Coach of the Year awards in 2001 and 2002, McDaniel led the Bears to a nation best seven first-place finishes in 2002-03, their highest-ever national ranking at No. 2 and their first of two Pac 10/12 championships. After winning the NCAA Central Regional in 2003, the Bears went on to have three straight top five showings at the NCAA Championships from 2004-06, including a program-best fourth-place finish in 2004.
Along the way, Nancy received numerous coach honors, including the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional, Golfweek, California's Athletic Alumni Association's Big C Society, LPGA Teaching Division Western Section and Golf World Midseason Coach of the Year awards. She’d be inducted into the WGCA Hall of Fame in 2016, and left Cal having coached 17 All Americans, 31 NGCA/WGCA All-American Scholars and 43 All-Pac 10/12 golfers.
In many of those years, she’d at the same time raise her two children, Tyler and Molly.
Although McDaniel is gone, her legacy remains. Her coaching tree includes former Cal players who are now running programs: Sofie Aagaard, now at Cal, Anne Walker at NCAA champion Stanford, Ria Scott at University of Virginia and Washington State assistant Anna Temple.
The values and character that Nancy brought to Cal--including knowing that a woman can be a successful coach and mom-- continue to be passed down and shared.
For more coverage of the 2024 Hall of Fame proceedings and to learn more about each honoree, please visit ncga.org/about/hall-of-fame.