Charlaine Coetzee Hirst Biography

CHARLAINE COETZEE HIRST BIOGRAPHY

Charlaine Hirst is a native of Cape Town, South Africa, and is a 1995 Magna Cum Laude graduate in History from Longwood College (now University). Charlaine was a three-time Division II National Champion (1993-1995). She received three major awards in 1995, including Today’s Top Eight, the Honda Division II Athlete of the Year, and the Virginia NCAA Woman of the Year. Charlaine was a four-time All-American (1992-1995), and a three-time academic All-Scholar honoree. She played on the LPGA Futures Tour for nine years (1996-2004) and competed in the US Women’s Open (1998), and the Wegmans LPGA Championship (2010). She was honored in 2013 with induction into the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, Collegiate Player Hall of Fame.

Charlaine has been a Class A LPGA member since 2011 and she currently serves as the LPGA Southeast Section as Vice President. Within the organization Charlaine serves in numerous capacities, Including the National Tournament Committee, National Education Committee and as an instructor/evaluator on the Global Education Team. Charlaine received the Sandy LaBauve Girls Golf Site Director of the Year (2020) and National Junior Leader of the Year (2021). Charlaine was honored as an LPGA Top 50 Instructor in 2022.

Also a published author, Charlaine wrote the history of the Farmville Presbyterian Church, in her beloved college town of Farmville, VA. In August 1996, Charlaine married US Air Force Lt. Col. (Retired) Jay Hirst, in the same church. Charlaine and Jay are blessed with their daughter Alexandra, who has committed to attend Longwood University in 2024, the same university Charlaine attended.

2021 Highlights include:

LPGA Top 50 Instructor

LPGA SE Section Junior Leader

LPGA National Junior Leader

Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award - Girls Golf Site Director of Year

USKids Top 50 Honorable Mention

Charlaine has certifications in: