Kelley Hester Hometown: Macon, Ga. Last College: Georgia Position: Head Coach

The chance to be the first.

That’s what Kelley Hester jumped at when UNLV announced it would begin sponsoring women’s golf as a varsity sport in 2001-02. The chance to be the first coach the school had ever known, to establish the records and set the tradition was too lucrative for her, and on January 8, 2001, she accepted the chance and challenge to establish the school’s roots.

“I am thrilled about the opportunity to start this program and continue the tradition that the UNLV men's program has built," Hester said at her hiring. "I look forward to meeting and working with active members of the Las Vegas golf community. My husband and I are very excited to come to Las Vegas and hopefully it will only be a matter of time before the women's team is successful and one of the top programs in the country."

Hester, 28, had not a doubt that UNLV had all the right tools necessary to launch a contending golf squad. Coming to UNLV from defending national champion Georgia, she adamantly claimed that the “first-year team” excuse was not a label she would accept.

"We are extremely fortunate to hire someone so qualified to lead this program," UNLV Associate Athletics Director Lisa Kelleher said of Hester’s hiring. "She was an excellent student-athlete on and off the golf course, played professionally and brings both assistant and head-coaching experience. She is well-schooled in the profession, comes from a nationally respected women's golf program and has a personality that the community will embrace. Kelley is looking forward to the challenge of building a solid foundation for this program."

The majority of Hester’s experience, both as a player and a coach, came from the University of Georgia. A native of Macon, Ga., she was recruited to play with the Bulldogs in 1991 following an outstanding four-year run at First Presbyterian Day School. By the time she had concluded her collegiate career, she helped her squad to a pair of SEC titles in 1993 and ’94, a fourth-place showing at the 1993 national finals, three All-SEC selections, and a trophy case full of decorations.

In 1996, Hester not only wrapped up her days on the links for the Bulldogs, but her days in the classroom, too, garnering her bachelor’s degree in public relations at Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Even with degree in hand, Hester’s future was in golf.

While serving as an assistant pro at Idle Hour Club in Macon, Hester spent two years out of school playing on the Futures Tour. In 1998, however, she turned her focus on coaching, accepting the head coaching position at Mercer University in Macon.

Within a year, her stint at Mercer was over. She had been recalled to Georgia to serve as an assistant under Beans Kelly, the school’s long-time coach that had originally brought Hester to the program.

In the middle of her third year at Georgia , opportunity came calling yet again, this time in the form of the new UNLV job. Hester split from a squad that was on its way to an upset of top-ranked Duke at the national championship.

But by the time Georgia’s title run transpired in May of 2001, Hester had already raised money for the new UNLV program, landed a nationally respected recruiting class and sewed up a deal with Anthem Country Club to serve as the Rebels’ home course.