Niagara will add women’s golf beginning in the 2009-10 academic year. The team will be the 18th Purple Eagle sport and will compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Robert O’Malley, who has a background in sports medicine, will coach the team. O’Malley served as assistant athletics director and head athletic trainer at Philadelphia for 13 years, administering the men’s golf program for part of that time. He also worked at the Temple University Centers for Sports Medicine and Science and has been a member of the United States Olympic Committee sports medicine staff since 1993. He played golf at American International College.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for women golfers in western New York to stay home and play for a school with a great athletics reputation and history,” O’Malley said. “I’m very excited about the prospects of brining Niagara University women’s golf into the MAAC.”

Athletics Director Ed McLaughlin said the school was looking for someone who could both teach the game and understand the world of college athletics.

“Bob has spent a career in college athletics, believes in our university mission and was the ideal choice to build our program,” McLaughlin said.

Fellow MAAC schools Fairfield and Siena both sponsor women’s golf.