Denise Larson was named the first ever Utah Valley women's golf coach in July of 2005 as the team was added at the NCAA Division I level for the 2005-2006 season.

After starting the Utah Valley women's golf program from scratch, Larson has progressively seen her teams improve with each passing season. She took the program from just three eligible athletes in the fall of 2005 and made it a competitor in several events less than two full seasons later.

Larson, a former stand out golfer at California State University, Sacramento, spent three seasons (2002-2005) as the head women's golf coach at St. Francis High School in northern California.

During her tenure, Larson led St. Francis to the 2002 Northern California State Championship, and two (2002 & 2003) high school section championships. She was named the Greater Sacramento area high school girls golf coach of the year in 2003.

Before taking the helm at St. Francis, Larson was an assistant coach at her alma mater, Sacramento State, for one season.

At Sac State as a player, Larson was a two-time Big Sky All-Conference golfer, and was named Academic All-Conference all four years. She was a team captain, and was on the CSUS Student Athletic Advisory Council as well as being the school SAAC representative for the Big Sky Conference.

A native of Bend, Oregon, Larson graduated from Mountain View High School (Oregon). She received a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology-Exercise Science from Sacramento State in 2002.

She married her husband, Tim in June of 2000 in Salt Lake City and now resides in Cedar Hills. The couple have two sons, Noah and Ben and will welcome their third son in May.