Keeping the attention, and motivating the 370 members of the Middletown High School Class of 2015, some of whom don’t know the difference between bogey and birdie.
Coffing Nolan, 29, a 2004 MHS graduate, has been selected to deliver the commencement address at 7 p.m. May 19 at Princeton Pike Church of God during the school’s 141st graduation ceremony.
Four years ago, MHS Principal Carmela Cotter started inviting MHS graduates to speak as part of the Distinguished Honored Middie Alumni program. Coffing Nolan will be the first female in those four years, and the first female to deliver the commencement address in recent memory, Cotter said.
Cotter said because of Coffing Nolan’s success on the golf course at such an early age, and her “blooming” TV career, she will connect with the graduates.
“She is such a terrific young person,” said Cotter, who served as assistant principal when Coffing Nolan was a student there. “She has set a tremendous high bar for our students and serves as an inspiration.”
MHS Athletic Director Gary Lebo said Coffing Nolan reminds him of another Middie graduate, Jalin Marshall, now a standout receiver on the OSU football team.
“They both get along with everybody and are very humble,” Lebo said.
He called Coffing Nolan “a first-class person.”
After she won the “Big Break” five years ago, one of the prizes was a $2,000 shopping spree at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Coffing Nolan donated it to the MHS athletic department.
When asked last week about the tone of her speech, she said it was still being written. But she will address how she has overcome the obstacles of Type I diabetes, a disease she was diagnosed when she was 5. She called having diabetes “a daily struggle,” through she has managed the disease with an insulin pump since 2008.
“If I can do it,” she said, “they can too with a little hard work. Hopefully, they can relate to me.”
After graduating from MHS, she earned a golf scholarship at OSU where she captain and an All-Big Ten selection. She also worked for CoachTressel.com covering all aspects of Ohio State football as a journalist, side-line reporter, and videographer.
She became a professional golfer in 2008, though her best finish was a runner-up on a mini-tour. While on tour, she produced her own video blog on GolfChannel.com called “Life on Tour,” which showcased her experiences.
Off the course, her life has been just as exciting. Several years ago, while at a summer festival in Cincinnati with some friends, she asked a stranger for directions to a music stage. That man, John Nolan, asked her on a date and she agreed.
Now, she admits: “He was either gonna be an ax murderer or the love of my life.”
They got married in 2013 and live in Pittsburgh. She has retired from professional golf, and laughs that most people retire so they can play more golf. But she remains involved in the sport. She co-hosts the national program “18 Holes with Jimmy Hanlin” on Fox Sports, and is an ambassador for diabetes. She became the executive producer in 2014, and also produces “Swing Clinic” and “Links To The Game” on Fox.
And next week, she will be a commencement speaker.
I told her there really was no pressure since last year’s graduation speaker was some guy named Clarence Page, who only won a Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
“Great,” she said with a laugh.
That pretty much ended the interview. She had a speech to write.
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