SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – An accomplished amateur golfer with ties to the Capital Region, Sam Schuffenecker has been named the next head coach of the Union College women's golf team, Director of Athletics Jim McLaughlin '93 announced on Thursday.
 
"I am beyond excited to step into the head women's golf coaching position at Union," Schuffenecker said. "Thank you to Jim McLaughlin, Beth Tiffany, and the rest of the search committee for trusting me with the success of the women's golf team. The game of golf has brought me so much joy, opportunity, and connection throughout my life and I'm excited to bring that energy and passion to the team. I'm looking forward to getting to know each student-athlete, helping them grow as players on and off the course, and building on the standard set by Coach McPhillips and Coach Burt before me."  
 
"I am confident that Sam will bring an energy and excitement as head coach of our women's golf program that will be a great benefit to our student-athletes," McLaughlin said. "We are very happy to have her at Union as she begins her collegiate coaching career, and I look forward to the impact she will make on our student-athletes both on and off the course."
 
Schuffenecker has been very active in the local golf scene in recent years and won the inaugural Capital Region Amateur Championship in 2024, the same year in which she also qualified for the USGA Women's Mid-Amateur Championship for the third time in a span of four years. She captured the NYSGA Women's Mid-Amateur title in 2023 and finished runner-up at the event in 2026, and twice has been named the Capital Region Women's Golfer of the Year.
 
Schuffenecker played four years of collegiate ice hockey at Connecticut College from 2009-13, appearing in 94 games and serving as co-captain as a senior for the Division III Camels. She moved to the golf course as a graduate student at the University at Albany in 2013-14, pacing the squad in two of its 10 events and leading the Great Danes with a seventh-place individual showing at the year-end MAAC Championships. 
 
A native of Oswego, Schuffenecker earned a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Connecticut College in 2013 and a master's in public health from UAlbany in 2014.