Jenna Birch

**Jenna Birch** is in her third season at the helm of the Little Rock women's golf program, named the third head women's golf coach in Little Rock program history on June 14, 2019.

Year two saw continued strides for the Trojan golf program as Little Rock finished the year with a team scoring average of 303.18, the fourth-best in program history and finishing with a GolfStat ranking of 143. Little Rock finished in the top-10 as a team in nine events on the year, including capturing the 2021 ORU Spring Invitational in April, the program's first team championship since 2016. Individually, the Trojans posted 12 rounds of par-or-better with six top-10 and 20 top-20 individual finishes, as three returning golfers shaved at least a stroke off their previous year's average.

It was another stellar year in the classroom as well as the Trojans once again led the department with a 3.917 cumulative team GPA, ranking fifth nationally. Five Little Rock golfers were named WGCA All-American Scholars in 2020-21 as Little Rock also ranked second nationally in community service hours, logged by Helper Helper.

In her first year with the program, Birch helped the Trojans make monumental strides, both on the course and in the classroom. On the course, Little Rock golfers registered 14 new individual 18, 36 or 54-hole lows with each player breaking at least one personal-best. As a team, the Trojans improved their average individual scoring average by 1.59 strokes while the team average dropped 3.03 strokes as Little Rock had a 26 spot improvement in the final 2019-20 GolfStat team rankings.

Little Rock set the standard for classroom success as well, finishing with the fifth-highest GPA in the nation among all Division I women's golf programs with a 3.89 for the 2019-20 season. That was highlighted by a 3.95 team GPA in the spring semester, the highest by a team in Little Rock department history, as all five golfers were named WGCA Academic All-Scholar honorees.

Additionally, Birch ensured the Trojans were active in the community as well as Little Rock was recognized for having the second-most community service hours nationally by Helper Helper, an organization that tracks volunteer and community service involvement.

Birch comes to Little Rock after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia Southern. During her time in Statesboro, Birch helped lead the Eagles to back-to-back third-place finishes at the conference meet, the best showings in program history.

Under her tutelage, Birch helped mentor Ella Ofstedahl to medalist honors at the Sun Belt Championship, marking the first Eagle to win a conference title in the history of the program. Georgia Southern was also recognized with three All-American Scholars during her two years in Statesboro while improving its Golfstat ranking by over 60 spots.

Prior to her time in Statesboro, Birch served as an assistant for both the men’s and women’s program for two seasons at Armstrong State, her alma mater. She played a key role in helping the Pirate women to the 2016 Peach Belt Conference title, its first since 2012. Armstrong State notched five team championship wins during her two years, making a pair of NCAA Regional Championship appearances in 2016 and 2017.

Additionally, seven of Birch's golfers at Armstrong State were named Peach Belt Players of the Week while academics remained a priority with a pair of Pirates being named Academic All-Americans.

Birch was a four year competitor for Armstrong State from 2011-14 where she was a two-time NCAA first team All-American. The Peach Belt Player of the Year in 2013, Birch boasts a 74.88 scoring average and was ranked third in the nation in 2013 while helping lead the Pirates to the 2012 Peach Belt Conference title.

The Fleetwood, England native also was a strong competitor in the classroom, being named an NCAA Academic All-American in both 2013 and 2014. A three-time first team All-Peach Belt Conference selection, Birch was inducted into the Armstrong State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.

Birch graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology in 2014 and completed her master’s degree in sports management from Georgia Southern in the spring of 2019. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in public administration from UA Little Rock.