IOWA CITY, Iowa – Allison Howarth has been named an assistant coach with the University of Iowa women’s golf program, it was announced Wednesday by head coach Megan Menzel.
Howarth joins the program following a four-year stint at the University of Incarnate Word. She served as graduate assistant in 2017-18 before being elevated to head coach for the past three seasons.
“I am thrilled to have Allison join our coaching staff,” said Menzel. “She has a proven record of developing players and I am excited for the impact she will make at Iowa. She brings a great competitive energy and matches the values that we have for our women’s golf program. I look forward to her working hard and helping us to continue building our program.”
During her time in San Antonio, the Cardinals saw an 82-spot jump in the Golfstat rankings, moving up from 205 in her first season to 123 in 2021. Incarnate Word finished third (in the national Golfstat rankings) in the Southland Conference in past two seasons and she coached two All-Southland Conference selections.
In her first 1 ½ years, the program’s scoring average dropped 10 shots and she led the program to a school record team score (303). She coached student-athletes to the top two career low rounds and the top two career scoring averages in the school record books.
In the classroom, each of Horwath’s teams finished with 3.47 grade point averages or higher and her 2020-21 squad posted a 3.80 team GPA. She coached four WGCA Academic All-American Scholars, two Southland Academic All-Conference selections and 20 Southland Conference Commissioner Honor Roll recipients in her three seasons as head coach.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Hawkeye staff and get to work on winning a Big Ten title with this team,” said Howarth. “I am thankful to Megan and the Iowa Athletics Department for the opportunity to work at such a stellar institution. I am eager to get started and help showcase this program’s talent.”
As a player, Howarth starred at St. Mary’s University, where she led the Rattlers to a fifth-place finish at the 2017 Division II National Championships. She helped St. Mary’s to a Heartland Conference title in 2016 and a runner-up finish in 2017.
For her career, Horwath was a three-time Heartland Conference selection, earning first-team honors as a senior, and she was a three-time all-tournament honoree and the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2014. The two-time Heartland Conference Player of the Week selection was a three-time medalist, and she helped the Rattlers to five team tournament titles as a senior.
Howarth graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business and risk management from St. Mary’s in 2017 and earned her master’s degree in business administration from Incarnate Word in 2018.