Heather Wall is currently in the midst of her ninth year as the head coach of the Nova Southeastern women's golf program in 2023-24, having already put herself in the conversation as one of the very best to lead the program. Her 26 career wins rank second all-time at NSU.
During the 2024-25 season, Wall led the Sharks to three wins, including the Sunshine State Conference championship for the seventh time in program history and second with her as the head coach. The Sharks recorded their first victory of the season at the Barry Invitational, where Lua Pousa Dacasa claimed the individual title for her first collegiate win. NSU added a second consecutive team and individual win by claiming the Space Coast Collegiate Challenge win, which featured Haruka Muta getting the first win of her collegiate career.
NSU, under Wall's leadership, has excelled during the 2022-23 season, as the Sharks have won three events as a team and had five individual winners. Nova Southeastern opened the 2022-23 campaign with a victory at the GolfWeek D2 Fall Classic, while Emma Larsen and Olivia Grønborg placed first and second, respectively, at the tournament. Later in the season, Ellen Anderson (E) was the individual winner at the Rollins Legends Invitational, as the Sharks placed fifth overall. Wall and the Sharks won their second event of the season to begin their 2023 slate, winning the World Golf Invitational, led by Olivia Grønborg's (-7). Nova Southeastern won the Buccaneer Invitational, including Ellen Anderson (E) winning her second event of the season. Wall's Sharks begane postseason play with a winner, as Grønborg became the fourth Shark to win the Sunshine State Conference Championship.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have been all that could stand in the way of Wall and the Sharks in 2019-20. Even then, NSU finished the abbreviated season ranked No. 1 in the nation following wins in four of its seven tournament appearances, including two consecutive to begin both the fall and spring.
The Sharks were paced by All-Americans Hanna Ahlander, Valentina Albertazzi and Sofia Garcia Austt. Each member of the trio ranked among the nation’s Top-20 individually, running the program’s streak to three straight years of at least three All-America selections. Albertazzi even went on to become the fifth NSU player all-time to be named the WGCA Freshman of the Year.
Despite the loss of three All-Americans from the year before, there was little drop-off for the Sharks in 2018-19. NSU returned to an NCAA South Super Regional for a third year in a row under Wall, where it ultimately finished fifth overall.
The Sharks rattled off five more wins along the way, including a six-shot victory at the Division I-heavy BUBBA Burger Jacksonville Classic. As a result, the postseason honors piled up, as Aldana Foigel, Sofia Garcia Austt and Sophie Madden were named All-Americans, bringing NSU's total to eight since Wall took over the program. Along with Nicola Fall, Foigel and Garcia Austt were also recognized as Academic All-Americans, while Hanna Ahlander became the school's first Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year since back in 2013.
The 2017-18 campaign was one Wall won't soon forget, as she guided the Sharks to a four-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championship. Just one month earlier, Wall also coached Nova Southeastern to its second consecutive, and sixth overall Sunshine State Conference title. Along the way, the Sharks shattered the previous record for a three-day SSC Championship by five strokes. while senior Michelle Ruiz captured a wire-to-wire win for the program's sixth individual SSC crown.
Nova Southeastern held onto No. 1 in the national poll for much of 2017-18 following eight tournament wins, including a stretch of six straight at one point. The remarkable run eventually led to Wall capturing both the SSC and South Region Coach of the Year awards, with four of her players garnering WGCA All-America honors. One of those All-Americans, Jamie Freedman, even went onto become the program's first-ever player selected to compete in the prestigious Arnold Palmer Cup.
Wall set the tone in year one in 2016-17 with the Sharks, propelling the program to three tournament victories, the most notable being Nova Southeastern's first SSC Women's Championship since 2012.
On the course, Wall's role as head coach lifted junior Michelle Ruiz to WGCA All-American status while, off the course, both Jamie Freedman and Aldana Foigel were named WGCA All-American Scholars.
Wall began her head coaching career at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. In her short time at UAM, Wall provided a major impact on the growth of both the men's and women's programs. During the 2015-16 season, she guided the men's program to its first team win in school history, while the women's team picked up its second team title. In May of that year, she mentored two female golfers that went on to qualify individually for regional play. Over her four years at UAM, both programs significantly improved their team stroke averages and set school scoring records at the Great American Conference Championship. Not only were Wall's teams successful on the course, but in the classroom as well. During her tenure, both teams consistently recorded team GPA's over 3.0 and for the final two years, the men's team posted team GPA's over 3.5.
Prior to becoming a head coach at UAM, Wall held various positions as a golf pro throughout Arkansas and Florida, while also playing professionally on the Duramed Futures (DFT) and SunCoast Tours. She continues to play competitively on the amateur level, and in 2015, was the winner of the Arkansas State Golf Association's Match Play Championship, which qualified her to play in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur in October that same year.
Wall is no stranger to the Sunshine State Conference, having played at Florida Southern from 2005-2009. While competing for the Moccasins, she was a two-time All-SSC performer; the 2009 SSC Women's Golfer of the Year; and a three-time, first team All-American. In 2007, Wall finished fourth overall at the NCAA Division II National Championship, leading the Moccasins to their fourth NCAA national title. In 2015, she was inducted into the FSC Athletics Hall of Fame.
Wall holds multiple records from her playing days as a Moc. While at FSC, she set single-season stroke average marks in both 2008 (74.80) and again in 2009 (74.27), and is the school's career record holder for overall stroke average with a 75.65 mark throughout her four years. Additionally, Wall collected a program-best 11 Top-10 finishes in 2009 and a school-best 34 top-10 finishes in her career. She still holds school records for low scores of 67 (one round), 141 (combined two rounds) and 214 (combined three rounds).
Wall received her Bachelor's Degree in Communications with a minor in Business from Florida Southern in 2009, and is currently finishing her Master's in Physical Education and Coaching at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. She is married to her husband, Cody.
