SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis golf coach Cindy Mah-Lyford has resigned to accept a collegiate coaching position.

“Although I am excited for a new challenge, I am also extremely sad to leave this great bunch of girls,” said Mah-Lyford, who will join the Sacramento State program as a volunteer assistant.  “I have often felt more like a proud mom than a coach, especially as I watched the girls play and interact with others.  It has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of the St. Francis community for the past six years, because of these girls and the tremendous support from administration.  To me, St. Francis has set the standard on how to run a high school athletic program. No matter where I’m at, I will always be rooting for the St. Francis Troubadour golfers.”

Mah-Lyford coached with the St. Francis program for six seasons, including five as the head coach. She led the Troubadours to a sixth-place finish at the CIF State Championships in 2012 and five consecutive postseason appearances as head coach. Overall, St. Francis won six section titles during her tenure with the program including four Division I North titles and two Masters wins. The Troubadours also won five league titles.

“You can’t really replace a coach like Cindy; you just count yourself blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her for as long as you have,” said Athletic Director Mark McGreevy. “She’s represents the ideal marriage between great expertise in the sport with the ability to effectively instruct young athletes in a manner that exemplifies our mission and values.  It’s bittersweet as we are happy and proud of her to accept this new professional challenge but it’s hard not to acknowledge how much she will truly be missed by everyone associated with SF Golf.”

Mah-Lyford was named the 2013-14 Northern California Girls’ Golf Coach of the Year by the California Coaches’ Association. St. Francis finished eighth at the 2013 NCGA/CIF Girls Nor Cal Championship after advancing with a third-place finish at Masters. The Troubadours won the Sac-Joaquin Division I North and Delta River League titles during the season.

May-Lyford was the 2015 Delta League female coach nominee for the Sac-Joaquin Section Model Coach Award to be announced later this year.

She coached five players at St. Francis who went onto play collegiately including Emily Laskin (Navy/San Francisco), Briana Mao (Virginia), Illeana Macdonald (Chico State), Ashley Noda (Santa Clara) and Victoria Vardanega (Pomona Pitzer). Mao has earned conditional status on the LPGA Tour in 2016.

Mah-Lyford played professionally on the Ladies European Tour for three seasons and posted two Top-10 finishes. She recorded a career-best 26th-place finish in 1993 among two United States Women’s Open appearances and was 40th overall in the 1991 British Women’s Open.

There will be a posting for the position early in the spring semester and a search committee will organized by McGreevy.