Now entering her seventh season as the head coach of the Maryland women’s golf team, Diana Cantú is building a program that is ready for the national stage. The former Tennessee standout golfer and Baylor assistant was hired in the summer of 2014 and has led the Terrapins to new heights of national success. Over the last three years, the Terrapins have consistently been ranked in the top 50 nationally - a program first. This past season (2021), the Terps received their highest ranking in program history at No. 14, and competed in the National Championships for the first time ever.
Cantú is building a program based on golf fundamentals, while teaching student-athletes the importance of time management, planning, problem solving and communication skills. Cantú and the staff look to help build their talented student-athletes into strong individuals and leaders.
The 2020-21 Terps set new program heights, finishing in the top-three teams within every tournament they competed in in the regular season. Maryland set a new program 18-hole low of 278 in their first event of the spring (FAU Paradise Invitational), with Virunpat Olankitkunchai also setting a record of her own after going 11-under par in the same event. The Terrapins went on to place second overall in the Big Ten Tournament, matching their program-best finish with four players finishing in the top-15.
Under her leadership, her 2018-19 Terps earned their first NCAA Regionals bid in over seven years. The Terrapins earned a top 50 ranking from Golf Week and Golf Stat over the course of the season, moving up 60 spots in the ranking since her first year. They ended the 2018-19 season ranked No. 44 by GolfStat, their highest ranking in program history.
Individually, 5 of the top 7 season stroke averages in Maryland history are owned by Terps playing under Cantu.
In the NCAA Regional in Auburn, Cantu’s young Terrapins went stroke-for-stroke with Tennessee to play for a spot in the NCAA Championships. They finished just three stroked behind the Volunteers. Sophomore Virunpat Olankitkunchai tied for third and finished three strokes under par to become the first Terrapin to advance to the NCAA Championships. Olankitkunchai finished tied for 43rd in the NCAA Championships as just a sophomore.
Olankitkunchai earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and was named to the All-Big Ten Championship Team.
With three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior in the lineup, Cantú and the Terps won the team’s first team title since 2012 with a win at the Nittany Lion Invitational in September 2017. The Terps’ finished one stroke under par with a score of 863 (293-282-288), which set a school record. In just her third collegiate event, freshman Laura Van Respaille won the individual title.
That spring, Cantú helped lead the Terrapins to a second-place finish in the Big Ten Championships - their highest finish in the Big Ten Tournament since they joined the league. Their second round score of 280 set a new program-low score.
Sophomore Xiaolin Tian tied for second in the individual standings and earned All-Big Ten honors, as well as an individual bid to NCAA Regionals in Austin, Texas. As a team, the Terrapins racked up 16 top-20 individual finishes.
The Terrapins won their second team title under Cantu in March of 2020. They went seven strokes under par in the final round to win the team title at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla. The Terps finished six strokes ahead of the second-place teams, TCU and No. 9 Arizona. In the final round, Maryland went seven strokes under par with a 281, which tied their season low, to move into first from fourth after the second round. In the final round, they recorded 18 birdies and an eagle to finish ahead of six top 50 teams.
Off the course in 2017-18, the Terps had the highest team GPA in program history.
Three Terrapins have earned All-Big Ten honors, all under Cantu. Juliet Vongphoumy was named Mary Fossum Award winner as the top individual golfer in the league in 2015. Tian earned Second Team honors in 2018 and Olankitkunchai was named to the First Team in 2019.
Cantú came to College Park after a successful three-year stint as the top assistant at Baylor. In her first year with the Lady Bears, she helped guide the squad to just the second NCAA Championship appearance in program history. In 2011-12, Baylor also saw its first women’s golf All-American (Hayley Davis) as well as two All-Big 12 performers (Davis, Chelsey Cothran).
During her second year at Baylor, the Lady Bears came within a stroke of earning an NCAA Championship berth after a ninth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional. Davis repeated as an All-American, and Lauren Taylor was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
As a student-athlete at the University of Tennessee, Cantú put together one of the finest careers in Lady Vols women’s golf history as a member of three teams that qualified for the NCAA Championship (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10). She earned All-SEC and NCAA East All-Region honors as a senior and ranks eighth in UT history in stroke average (76.16) and second in career rounds played (130).
In her junior campaign with the Vols, she ranked fourth in the country in three-putt holes (0.70) and 11th in average putts (30.47). She was an NCAA Academic All-American in 2007.
“I am honored to be leading the University of Maryland women’s golf program and I am grateful for the opportunity,” Cantú said. “Maryland has an outstanding reputation both academically and in athletics. I am looking forward to continuing to grow this great program coach Jason Rodenhaver has built and taking it to new heights.”
Prior to arriving to Tennessee, the Monterrey, Mexico, native captured the 2005 Mexican Amateur title and was the runner-up in 2006. Cantú was a member of the Mexican National Team from 2005-2010 and won an individual silver medal to help lead Mexico to team gold at the 2007 University Games in Thailand.
Cantú is an LPGA Class B member and she is TPI-certified. She currently serves as the secretary for the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Board of Directors. She graduated from Tennessee with a degree in business administration in 2010 and a master’s degree in sports management from Baylor.
