SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Following her 11th season at the helm of the Union College women's golf program and nearly three decades of service to the Union Department of Athletics overall, Mary Ellen Burt will be retiring at the conclusion of the 2022-23 school year, it was announced this week.

The only coach Union women's golf has ever known, Burt was announced as the head coach of the program in 2011 and the team began competition during the 2012-13 school year. 

"Starting the golf program at Union College was truly a personal journey for me," Burt said. "I wanted to share my love and passion for the sport of golf with female student-athletes at Union. It was wonderful to have the Mohawk Golf Club as our home course and the state-of-the-art golf simulator installed on campus was perfect for the weather in upstate New York. I don't know what we would have done without the golf simulator!"

"On behalf of the entire department, I want to thank Mary Ellen for her many years of service to Union College and its student-athletes," Director of Athletics Jim McLaughlin '93 said. "Her impact on hundreds of Union student-athletes as both basketball and golf coach are immeasurable and the legacy that she leaves behind is undeniable. Her work in building and sustaining our women's golf program have left the team in a great position for future success. We congratulate Mary Ellen on her upcoming retirement and wish her happiness as she begins her exciting next chapter."

Burt has been a member of the Department of Athletics at Union for 28 years, the second-longest tenure ever for a varsity head coach at the College. She started her time at Union as the head women's basketball coach in 1995 and led that program for 26 years before stepping down in 2021 with 344 wins to her credit, making the winningest coach ever at Union in a single sport.

"I wanted to integrate the word 'Arete' with the golf team, as it was the foundation of my coaching philosophy with the basketball team as well," Burt said. "Arete simply means to be the best that you can be in whatever you are doing - whether in the classroom, on the course or in a social setting. The first few years of the program were a bit rough, but we were finding our way. The players improved each year and really enjoyed the journey of building a team culture."

Under Burt's leadership, the women's golf program has continued to grow and improve over the last decade. The team has shown near-continuous improvement on the course, resetting the school single-season scoring record in seven of the last nine seasons, while also boasting the three best single-round scores in program history over the last two years. The team has also succeeded in the classroom, winning Union's Presidential Award for Academic Achievement (given to the team with the highest GPA) in three of the last five seasons.

"We set new individual and team records [almost] every year, always were at or close to the top of the Athletic Department in team GPA, and the players were terrific role models on campus," Burt added. "That embodies the word 'Arete.'"

"We owe Coach Burt for building our program from the ground up," said sophomore Elizabeth Bentsianov, a captain on this year's team. "She had a vision and truly followed through to make it a reality, even though it often was not easy. Coach Burt has always emphasized putting in the work and taught us to strive for better than 'getting through,' even in the smallest of things like a short-game drill. I think she really exemplified that attitude, first in building a women's golf program at Union and then by helping that program and each of its athletes excel. I hope Coach gets to play lots of amazing golf in retirement!"

Burt will begin her retirement at the conclusion of the 2023 spring season, which is set to begin on April 1 at Vassar College.

The search for Union's next women's golf coach will launch in the coming weeks.