Barb Odale begins her eighth season as head coach of The University of Texas-Pan American women's golf program.

Entering her eighth season, Odale has discovered the perfect formula in putting together a model program for success both on the golf course and in the classroom. A perfect example of Odale's ability to recruit and coach all-around, talented student-athletes was never more evident than during the 2004-05 season when the Lady Broncs captured three tournament team championships while finishing with the highest cumulative grade point average among all programs at UTPA.

The Lady Broncs have become one of the most dominant Independent women's golf programs in the nation since Odale has taken over the helm. UTPA has captured three National Minority College Golf Championships in the past four years as well as collected a pair of victories during the 2004 fall campaign at the Ellingson/SHSU Invitational and its own UTPA Bronc Classic.

During the last five seasons, Odale has guided the Lady Broncs to 28 top-10 finishes, 18 top-five finishes and 10 top-three showings. The Lady Broncs were also in the mix for a tournament crown on the final day of competition at the Oral Roberts' Battle at the Lake Invitational, Texas State's CenturyTel/Bobcat Classic and the Saint Croix Collegiate Classic in the Virgin Islands.

Odale has transformed the UTPA women's golf program into a team to reckon with in every tournament they enter, and her student-athletes continue to put forth some of the best marks among the tournament field. A sign of the dominance of the Lady Broncs occurred at the 2004 National Minority College Golf Championships where they hammered Spelman College by 391 strokes en route to capturing the team title by the largest margin of strokes in the tournament's history.

The Lady Broncs' head coach has also been a catalyst for the success of Stefanie Maynard, who graduated from UTPA as the program's all-time leader in individual championships surpassing former standout Nancy Verastegui. Maynard left the UTPA women's golf program with five career individual titles, including a trio of National Minority College Golf Championships.

Under Odale's tutelage, Maynard became the first UTPA women's golf to captured Co-Independent Golfer of the Year honors en route to accumulating All-Independent honors in all four seasons that she competed. In the Spring of 2006, Maynard was added another award to her trophy case when she was selected as the UTPA Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

Maynard wasn't the only UTPA student-athlete to excel under Odale's guidance as she was paired with Daniela Cortes to become the first Lady Bronc teammates to ever earn All-Independent honors in all four seasons. Cortes was a four-time All-Independent second team award winner with the Lady Broncs.

During her tenure as head coach, Odale was guided 12 student-athletes to post-season All-Independent accolades with four of them earning multiple selections in Maynard, Cortes, Nikki Boychuk and Crystal Frazier. To go along with her All-Independent selection in 2005, Boychuk was also selected to ESPN The Magazine All-District VI Women's At-Large Second Team honors.

While UTPA has produced several individual standouts under Odale, the Lady Broncs cemented themselves as one of the best up-and-coming programs in the country when UTPA posted seven top-10 finishes throughout the course of the 2003-04 season. All of this was done with one junior, three sophomores and one freshman leading the charge in the lineup, which proved to be a sign that great things were on the way for the Lady Broncs.

A true believer in the importance of an education, Odale has constantly pushed her teams to excel not only on the golf course, but also strive for perfection in the classroom. Following the 2005-06 academic campaign, the Lady Broncs recorded a team grade point average of 3.541, which was the highest among all athletic programs at UTPA for the third consecutive year. In the last three seasons, UTPA has posted team grade point averages of 3.541 (2005-06), 3.569 (2004-05) and 3.251 (2003-04).

The Lady Broncs' grade point average of 3.569 in 2004-05 ranked them 14th in the nation among all NCAA Division I, II and III programs. It was the highest academic award that a UTPA program has ever received from the National Golf Coaches' Association. That season, Boychuk, Maynard and Rodriguez were each named to the NGCA Academic All-American Scholar Honors for their individual grade point average.

The academic numbers under Odale's watch have been staggering: 54 members of the Bronc Pride 3.0 Club, 33 members of the UTPA Dean's List First and Second Honors; 24 selections to the UTPA Athletic Director's Honor Roll; 13 selections to the National Golf Coaches Association Scholars; and 11 selections to the United States Achievement Academy (USAA) All-American Scholars.

Odale has also seen three of her golfers honored with the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award, which was started by the Black Issues in Higher Education Committee and awarded to the minority student-athletes who excel in the educational arenas. Former golfer Adriana Espinoza won this award in each of her final three seasons at UTPA while Christina Infante was honored twice. Alejandra Gutierrez received the honor in 1999-00.

A product of Southern Methodist University, Odale (formerly Blackwell) was selected to participate in the Shiseido Cup in Japan after gradation and finished as the tournament runner-up. She was joined by current Ladies Professional Golf Association star Annika Sorenstam on the selected team.

Once she returned to the states, Odale played on both the Futures Tour along with the Lady Texas Mini-Tour. In 1992 and 1993, she qualified for the final stage of the LPGA Tour School. She also qualified for the U.S. Women's Open on two occasions and was the leading money winner on the Lady Texas Mini-Tour.

Odale put together a tremendous resume while a member of the SMU women's golf team from 1988-92, achieving NCAA All-American status on two occasions. She was a first team All-American during her junior season followed by earning second team honors as a senior. In each of her last three seasons with the Mustangs, Odale was a first team All-Southwest Conference selection.

As a senior, she was named the SWC Player of the Year and finished among the top ten at the NCAA Golf Championships. As a team, Southern Methodist captured the SWC team championship and finished 12th at the NCAA Golf Championships during her senior season. Odale also excelled in the classroom where she was a member of the SMU 3.0 Club, honoring significant academic achievement in her final three seasons.

Odale and her husband, Jeff, have four children - Charlotte (17), Jeremiah (8), Sarah (5) and Jordan (4) - and reside in Mission.