Amber Peterson has stepped down as head coach of the Lakeland University women's golf program, and Kayla Clark has been elevated to head coach of the team, Director of Athletics April Arvan has announced.

Peterson will step back from coaching the golf team to concentrate on her other duties at Lakeland including serving as head coach of the women's basketball team plus administrative responsibilities. Clark has been an assistant coach with the women's golf team since 2020, when she returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach with the women's basketball program.

Peterson concludes a highly successful 5 1/2-year run as coach of the women's golf team. An assistant coach with the women's basketball team from 2013-20, she took over the women's golf program in 2016 and led the Muskies to five consecutive top-three finishes in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship.

Highlights included Ali Wilson winning the NACC individual championship in 2019, and that was followed up by Lakeland winning its first-ever NACC team championship in 2020-21 and making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships. Muskies golfers under Peterson also set school records for low individual and team rounds and dominate the school's top 20 lists for top individual and team rounds.

Clark was an assistant coach on the 2020-21 team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and this summer she was elevated to associate head coach of the team. She also is the lead assistant coach for the Lakeland women's basketball team and is a Muskies grad who played basketball for four years from 2013-17, is the program's all-time assists leader and was part of the 2017 NACC championship team that qualified for the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.

"I am very thankful for this opportunity and I am excited to continue the tradition within the women's golf program," said Clark. "We have an opportunity to do something special here and I am honored to be a part of it."

"I can think of nobody better to lead the Lakeland women's golf program moving forward than Coach Clark," said Peterson. "She's student-athlete driven, a proven winner, and a tireless worker. The Lakeland women's golf program is in great hands!"