University of Minnesota Athletics
Nancy Harris Blanchard - M Club Hall of Fame
Women’s Golf, 1981-84
Golf Coach, 1987-91
HOF Class of 2004
Two-time Gopher golf team captain and MVP, Nancy Harris Blanchard twice qualified for the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships. She was the University’s first female qualifier.
She also qualified for the AIAW National Championship during her sophomore season.
Harris Blanchard carded a career stroke average of 79.2 over 130 rounds, including a single-season average of 76.7 that was the Gophers’ second-lowest ever. She placed second in individual competition at the 1984 Big Ten Conference Championship, and was an individual medalist in nine collegiate tournaments.
Harris Blanchard became Minnesota women golf head coach in 1987. Just two years later, the program won its first conference championship in 11 seasons, and she was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
In four years as head coach, she coached two All-Americans and four all-conference golfers. She was named the Minnesota Golf Association’s Women’s Player of the Year in 1994, and was a six-tie winner of the Women’s State Amateur Tournament and three-time champion of the state match-play tournament.