Taylor Mottern C'18 enters his fifth season as head coach of the women's golf program at the University of the South in 2026-27.

Sewanee posted its best season in Mottern’s tenure in 2025-26 behind a lineup that included as many as four freshmen. The Tigers placed in the Top 8 in all five fall events before winning the SAA Championships in the spring by 16 shots, the second conference title in program history and first since 2017. The team made the cut at the NCAA Championships, finishing 13^th among 34 teams nationally.
 
Mottern earned Coach of the Year honors at the conference tournament while freshman Natalie Catapano won low medalist by 10 strokes. Catapano was voted Co-Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year while freshman Anna Claire Gibson was named First Team All-SAA. Jane Stilz and two more freshmen – Rachel Waters and Elizabeth Bowman – received Second Team accolades and six players were recognized as part of the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
 
The Tigers placed third at the SAA Championships for the third consecutive year under Mottern in 2024-25. Sabrina Nesbitt earned Second Team All-SAA honors and six players were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
 
Sewanee won the Music City Shootout and placed third at the SAA Championships in 2023-24. Merrick Semans was voted First Team All-SAA, Sabrina Nesbitt garnered Second Team accolades and seven players received SAA Academic Honor Roll recognition.
 
In Mottern’s first season with the program in 2022-23, the Tigers finished third in the SAA Championships, with E.C. Niebauer earning Newcomer of the Year honors and Nicole Nesbitt, Merrick Semans and Niebauer garnering First Team All-SAA accolades. Sabrina Nesbitt was named to the Second Team and 10 players were recognized as part of the SAA Academic Honor Roll.

A former golfer with the men's golf team, Mottern was a four-year starter on the men’s team at Sewanee. His peers elected him co-captain during his senior campaign. He posted a 75.3 scoring average in 14 rounds as a senior, earning Second Team All-SAA honors, placing 11^th individually in the conference championships.

In 51 career rounds with the Tigers, he recorded 76.4 scoring average.
 
He took over as head coach after spending nearly four years as Assistant Director of The Sewanee Fund and also serving as a volunteer assistant with the men’s golf program. 

Additionally, he spent the 2018 summer as a P.J. Boatwright Intern for the Georgia State Golf Association. 

He earned his bachelor’s in Biology with a minor in Music from the University of the South in 2018. Mottern continues to compete in the offseason, winning the 2023 Tennessee Mid Amateur Championship at The Country Club in Morristown, Tenn.

Updated 6/30/2026