Isabella Coughlin, a senior at Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK), won the 2025 5Star Preps Masters girls individual title Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at Three Ridges Golf Course in Knoxville, Tenn. (Photo by Tanner Walker / 5Star Preps)
BY DAVE LINK
Isabella Coughlin was choosing between pursuing a career in golf or a career in volleyball when she was in the eighth grade at Christian Academy of Knoxville.
It was the 2020-21 school year, Coughlin’s first at CAK. She had a conversation with CAK golf coach Donnie Cooper.
“Donnie was like, ‘If you can shoot under par, then you shouldn’t be playing volleyball,’” Coughlin recalls, “so he helped my decision to play golf.”
Cooper saw something special in Coughlin at the time.
“She was a talent from the very beginning,” Cooper said. “She had a work ethic, but she was different. A lot of kids go and they practice hard, but she did it with a purpose. She had a plan and a purpose for what she was working on, even working out, it was to hit it farther or something else. She’s unique in that she was so driven that she even had a purpose, even in practice.”
Brad Rose Golf Instruction is the proud sponsor of 5Star Preps golf coverage. Brad has sent 100s off to play college golf, as well as instructed PGA Tour champions and U.S. Amateur champions.
Coughlin, now a senior at CAK, has parlayed her drive and talent to a golf scholarship at Western Kentucky, which competes in Conference USA. She is Cooper’s second player from CAK signing with Western Kentucky golf.
Caroline Cavin, who helped CAK win state championships in 2015 and ’16 and was medalist as a senior, played for the Hilltoppers from 2017-20.
Coughlin has followed Cavin’s path in more ways than one, heading to Western Kentucky and helping the Lady Warriors win back-to-back state championships.
And she couldn’t be happier about her choice to play golf in high school under Cooper.
“It was really nice being able to play under him for the past five years now,” she said, “and being able to finish it out with two state championships felt really good.”
Coughlin, the 5Star Preps Girls Player of the Year, started her senior season by winning the 5Star Preps Masters tournament at Three Ridges (72-69) and finished it with a runner-up individual finish in the Division II-A state tournament at Sevierville Golf Club.
Leading up to state, Coughlin fired rounds of 67 in the district tournament and 70 in the region tournament.
Her first round at state didn’t go as planned. One bad hole led to an opening round 74, tied for second place and nine strokes behind leader Tori Robinson, a senior at Trinity Christian School in Jackson.
“The first day, I just kind of got off to a rough start and couldn’t get it back to even for the day,” Coughlin said, “but the second day I played fine. I just wasn’t able to catch up after the first round.”
Coughlin shot 1-under 69 for the second round, finishing 3-over 143 for the tournament.
Robinson, who will play at College of Charleston, won with 9-under 131 (65-66).
Coughlin was one of the first people to congratulate Robinson after she won. They played in the same group both days.
“We’re really good friends,” Coughlin said.
In fact, Coughlin and Robinson teamed up together for the USGA Four-Ball Qualifier on Nov. 18; if they qualify, they will play together in the USGA Four-Ball in Charleston, S.C., in May.
By then, Coughlin will be in the thick of her golf schedule.
During late fall and winter, she will work on her golf game. Coughlin takes lessons from Jason Gandy at Willow Creek and plays at Tennessee National and Holston Hills.
As Cooper said, Coughlin remains focused on the particulars in practice. She’s got a purpose this offseason.
“Mainly just fixing up my swing to where I can get more speed with it and more distance off the tee,” she said. “That’s my main goal, just to see if I can carry the driver a little bit longer.”
Coughlin was recruited during her junior year at CAK by Western Kentucky golf coach Adam Gary, who’s in his 12th season at the Bowling Green, Ky., school. She took an official visit last November (2024), enjoyed her time there, and signed the scholarship papers on Wednesday morning, Nov. 12, at CAK.
“The facilities were great,” she said, “all the courses they play are really nice, and the girls on the team and the coach really made it work for me. They’re super close and have a great culture up there. I just felt the coach (Gary) could really help me get better and improve.”
PAST RECIPIENTS
2024 — Isabella Gambini (William Blount)
2023 — Brylee Crouse (Kingston)
2022 — Lauren Davis (Halls)
2021 — Brylee Crouse (Kingston)
2020 — Lexanne Halama (Farragut)
2019 — Lexanne Halama (Farragut)
2018 — Alyssa Montgomery (Central)