Ofelia Lopez joined the Broncs as head coach of the women’s golf program prior to the 2007-08 season. She was also the Director of Golf Operations, running both the women’s and men’s programs from 2009 through 2012.
The 2012-13 women’s team made history while tying for first before falling in a playoff hole at the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, as the Broncs shot a program record 296 in the second round and then erased a 13-stroke deficit in the final round to force a playoff hole and finish with a program record score of 909.
Lopez led the men’s team to their fifth PGA National Minority Championship in the spring of 2012 while helping to develop junior Kevin Kirakossian, who finished in the top eight four times during the fall and spring seasons combined. The women’s team also saw success, winning the UTB Women’s Fall Shootout.
In the 2010 fall season, Lopez guided the women’s golf team to two top 10 finishes and the men’s golf team to one top 10 finish. In the spring of 2011, Lopez led the women’s team to their fifth National Minority Golf Championship where they posted a three-day score of 921 (310-307-304). She also guided Haley Hocott to a second place finish.
In her third season at the helm, Lopez guided the men’s golf team to six top 10 finishes, including the America Sky Conference and National Minority Golf Championships. She guided the women to three top 10 finishes including a second place finish at the Great West Conference Championships.
With the fall and spring seasons combined, Lopez guided her Broncs to three top five finishes and three top 10 finishes in nine tournaments. Of the three top-five finishes in the 2008-09 season, two of those were back-to-back tournament titles with the winning of the inaugural Great West Conference tournament followed by the National Minority Collegiate Golf Championship. The women’s golf team came from 14 strokes behind to capture the Great West tournament title with a three-round score of 961 (327-321-313). With Lopez’s guidance, the women’s golf team opened the fall season with a fifth-place showing at the UC Fall Invitational (hosted by the University of Cincinnati). At that same tournament, then-freshman Majo Camey shot a 69, breaking the school record for lowest round. Camey also tied the record for the third-lowest single-round score with a 71 in the first round of the National Minority Championship.
At the 2009 Great West Conference Championship, UTPA swept all honors with Lopez named Great West Conference Coach of the Year. Four members of the women’s golf team finished in the top 10, while three earned First Team All-Conference honors and one earned Second Team All-Conference accolades. Haley Hocott took the individual tournament title and Mariale Camey finished runner-up. Lopez then guided the women’s golf team to another tournament title with the winning of the program’s fourth National Minority Collegiate Golf Championship. The Broncs accounted for five of the top 10 slots with Majo Camey finishing in first place, Haley Hocott in second, Mariale Camey in third, Bronwyn Sandberg in eighth and Sarah Kothny in ninth. The Broncs’ three-round score of 922 is the program’s fifth all-time lowest three-round score. The Broncs earned multiple post-season awards with four of the women earning Great West Conference Spring All-Academic team honors and three earning NGCA All-American Scholar Team honors. The Broncs maintained a 3.44 grade point average during the 2008-09 academic campaign.
In her first season, Lopez oversaw both the men and women’s programs, taking both teams to a combined 13 top 10 finishes. To begin the 2008 spring season, both the men and women captured the tournament titles at the Jack Brown Memorial Tournament hosted by Texas A&M-International. With Lopez’s guidance, junior Mariale Camey took home the individual tournament title, placing first with a three-round score of 153 (74-79-82). By the end of the season, the men’s golf program had competed in eight tournaments, six of which were top 10 finishes. The Broncs recorded their second best finish of the season at the National Minority Golf Championship with a third place showing. The women’s golf team competed in a total of 10 contests with eight of them being top 10 finishes. UTPA finished in a close second to Bethune-Cookman at the National Minority Golf Championship. Mariale Camey came close to capturing the title, placing second with a three-round score of 226, right behind Bethune-Cookman’s Becky Dowell (225). At the beginning of the 2007-08 season, the women’s golf program was ranked 182 in the Women’s College Golf Rankings and jumped up 60 spots by the end of the season.
Despite having a season that runs year round, Lopez was able to keep the Broncs focused on their class work in her first season as coach. Lopez had two student-athletes earn Dean’s List First Honors while three more earned Dean’s List Second Honors. The Broncs also had 11 student-athletes in Bronc Pride 3.0 Club, including one with a 4.0 GPA.
Prior to joining the UTPA staff, the San Antonio-native spent the previous two seasons as the University of Southern Mississippi’s women’s golf graduate assistant coach. The Golden Eagles recorded four top-five finishes during the 2006-07 season, including a third-place showing at the Cincinnati Fall Classic, fourth-place finish at the UAB Fall Beach Bash and fifth-place showing at The Baja Invitational. In addition to their success on the golf course, five members of the USM women’s golf team earned Dean’s List or Athletic Director’s Honor Roll laurels for their work in the classroom.
Lopez had strong ties with the University of Southern Mississippi as she was a four-year standout for the Golden Eagles during her collegiate career, earning first team Conference USA laurels during the 2001 season. A four-time USM student-athlete of the week award recipient, Lopez was a model in the classroom as she was honored with the USM Athletic Director’s Bronze Academic Medal as well as cited with Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll honors. Lopez was also part of Top 30 All Team at Southern Mississippi where she was honored as being one of the top 30 female athletes in the first 30 years of women’s athletics at USM from 1975-2005.
Lopez continued to compete after her collegiate career came to an end, capturing the 2004 San Antonio City Women’s Amateur Championship and finishing as an alternate to be on the Big Break III: Ladies Only Challenge, which was seen on the Golf Channel. She also played in the Future Tournament for a brief while in 2006.
Following her playing career with the Golden Eagles, Lopez served as the Assistant Golf Professional at the Resort Course at La Cantera in her hometown of San Antonio before being promoted to Tournament Coordinator five months later.
Lopez earned her bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports administration with an emphasis in coaching from USM in 2004 and then went on to earn her master’s in sports management from USM in 2007.
