The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga announced “a change in leadership” for it’s women’s golf program late Friday afternoon, with Colette Murray out less than two months into her 19th season as head coach of the Mocs.
Katie Woodruff, the wife of UTC men’s golf head coach Blaine Woodruff, has been named interim coach, with Carolina Hortian remaining on staff as a first-year assistant.
UTC’s release announcing the moves did not provide an explanation for the change, which comes with one tournament — the Mercer Invitational on Nov. 2-3 in Macon, Georgia — still remaining on the fall portion of the Mocs’ 2025-26 schedule. Murray was hired in January 2006 to lead a program that was revived after being dormant for two decades, with the Mocs returning to competition in the 2007-08 season.
“We are very grateful for Colette’s impactful tenure with our women’s golf program,” UTC athletic Mark Wharton said in the release. “She built a successful program from the ground up. The foundation has been laid to build upon at the regional and national level. We wish her the best moving forward.”
A four-time Southern Conference women’s golf coach of the year, Murray — an assistant at Alabama’s Jacksonville State before being hired by the Mocs — guided UTC to five team championships in league competition (all from 2010-14) with the individual accomplishments during her tenure including seven conference medalists.