UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury announced Friday the hiring of Emily Marron as head women’s golf coach. Marron arrives in Orlando after spending nine years as head coach at UNC Greensboro.

“We are excited to have Emily lead our women’s golf program. Emily’s experience as a head coach makes her a great fit for UCF. Her passion for the sport and helping student-athletes was extremely evident during the search process and we look forward to Emily guiding our program to continued success on the course and in the classroom,” Stansbury said.

Marron will inherit a UCF team that advanced to the NCAA Regional for the first time in three years, won two tournament titles and returns each letterwinner from the 2011-12 campaign.

“I am so honored and excited to be the next women’s golf coach at UCF,” Marron said. “The program is on the rise and the university has everything in place to ensure we can remain nationally competitive. The team had a great year last year and I’m looking forward to keeping that momentum going as they all return this fall.

“We will have high goals set for the program right away and an experienced team that can deliver results,” Marron continued. “I would like to personally thank Todd Stansbury for giving me the opportunity to lead the program at UCF and I look forward to being part of the Knight family.”

Under the leadership of Marron, the Spartans finished runner-up in the Southern Conference Tournament in April. She was tabbed coach of the year by the league and coached Fanny Cnops to Southern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors.

Cnops turned in one of the best seasons by a collegian in 2012 with the guidance of Marron. In 32 rounds played, the Gent, Belgium native’s average score was 72.56, seventh in the nation. She finished fourth in birdies made (106), second in par-5 scoring (4.73) and won two individual titles. Cnops became the second individual under Marron to make an NCAA Regional appearance.

While excelling on the links, the Spartans also performed admirably in the classroom. Most recently, the squad finished the academic year with a 3.46 GPA, tops among all teams at UNCG. In 2009-10, Sofia Aidemark took first-team ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District III honors for the second-straight season and became UNCG’s first international student to be inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Prior to working in Greensboro, Marron spent three seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Penn State. While with the Nittany Lions, she was the recruiting coordinator and helped lead the squad to the 2003 NCAA East Regional Tournament. Marron was also involved in fundraising, travel, practice and the team’s summer golf camps.

A native of Johnstown, Pa., Marron completed her playing time for Penn State in 1998 after joining the team as a walk-on in 1994. An Academic All-Big Ten honoree, she served as the team’s co-captain as a senior. A four-year letterwinner, Marron won the 1997 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship (ECAC) and was a two-time All-ECAC honoree.

Marron graduated from Penn State in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation and park management. Upon graduation, Marron worked for one year as an assistant golf professional at The Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Phil Mickelson’s home course. A Class “A” member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division, Marron taught at the Peter Kostis/Gary McCord Learning Center at Grayhawk.