CHARLESTON, S.C. – This summer The Citadel Athletic Department is highlighting a number of our coaches in a series titled Coach's Corner. The videos will post each Wednesday morning throughout the summer and are intended to help Bulldog fans and supporters get to know our coaches away from competition. Each Coach's Corner episode features the coach reflecting on his or her background, goals and experiences, in addition to their attraction to The Citadel and coaching our cadet-athletes. Links to previous Coach's Corner posts can be found at the bottom of this article. This week we feature Lori Bonacci.
 
Rapid Fire
Last movie you saw in a theater: Trolls
Favorite professional team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Favorite pregame song: Another One Bites The Dust
Favorite meal: Spaghetti and meatballs
Favorite musician: Queen
 

 
1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia.
 
2. How many siblings do you have?
I have two younger sisters and I am the oldest.
 
3. What kind of pets did you have growing up?
I had dogs, I had sugar gliders which are a very interesting, exotic pet. Everything, I loved animals. A sugar glider is basically like a flying squirrel that is from Australia, it is a marsupial. I remember one night, I shared a room with one of my younger sisters, and she woke up screaming because it was on her face. It had gotten out and it was literally on the middle of her face while she was sleeping.
 
4. Who sports did you play growing up?
Just golf, golf all the time from the time I was nine years old. I played every day, all day.
 
5. How did you first get interested in your sport, was there a certain person who influenced you?
My dad caused me to be interested in my sport because he didn't want to babysit so he took my sister and I to the golf course and we basically had to tag along so that's how we learned to play we just joined his group and would start playing.
 
6. What was your first car?
My first car was an old dodge that my dad painted with John Deere green paint and instead of washing the car when say a bird flew over and decided to do its business on the car, my dad would paint over it instead of washing it. So we would drive around town in our John Deere green dodge and he would embarrass us by honking loudly as he pulled away from wherever he would drop us off and then I inherited the car. It was fantastic.
 
7. What is your favorite hobby outside of athletics?
I love to run, I will run all day long. My favorite hobby, I love to run marathons. It gives me a chance to think and clear my mind. It's physically and mentally draining but when you're done you feel so accomplished.
 
8. Tell us about your most memorable vacation:
I would have to say honestly my most memorable vacation was two years ago when we took my kids to Disney World and to see Disney World through their eyes was absolutely amazing, I fell in love with the place all over again.
 
9. What is something on your bucket list you haven't been able to check off yet?
A road trip across country. That would be a bucket list item to drive across the country. It might be terrifying with three kids but at some point I would love to do it. My younger sister did it right when she finished college and I am very jealous of that.
 
10. What is your favorite place in Charleston?
My favorite place in Charleston would be the Battery. I love running it on Saturday mornings when the sun is coming up, it is just so peaceful and relaxing.
 
11. What would you consider your greatest athletic achievement?
My greatest athletic achievement would be winning the conference tournament as a junior at Youngstown State, we won as a team and I won individually.   
 
12. How did you get into coaching?
I got into coaching when I moved to Charleston with my husband. The position opened up and I knew it was something I had always wanted to do and I applied on a whim and I got the job and have loved every second of it.
 
13. Was coaching always something you wanted to do?
Coaching was something I always wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to do something in the sport and I knew that teaching was something that I wanted to do so combining those was perfect.
 
14. What attracted you to The Citadel?
What attracted me to The Citadel was the structure of this school. I mean the kids here are fantastic, they are so hard working, they know what they want and having student-athletes like that is very rare.
 
15. Tell us about your most memorable experience so far at The Citadel:
My most memorable experience would have been our match play event. I mean it just happened a few months ago but watching one of my freshman play extra holes and not knowing it was for us to win the match and watching the team run out there and gather around her because in golf it's not really a team sport it's so individual and seeing them really come together as a team was amazing.
 
16. What has been your favorite part about working at The Citadel?
The student-athletes. I mean they know what they want for their future and they are here because of that and they are just fantastic people. I mean getting to know them and them calling you from a decade ago, I've been here 10 years now, and my first student-athletes calling and saying "Hey you want to meet and have lunch?" and just being a part of their lives has been great.
 
Coach's Corner Schedule
May 31 - Jody Huddleston
June 7 - Sandra Worman
June 14 - Chuck Kriese
June 21- Jack Marchant
June 28 - Lori Bonacci
July 5 - William Smith 
July 12 - Craig Mosqueda 
July 19 - Erin Leonard 
July 26 - Rob Hjerling 
Aug. 2 - Kris Kut 
Aug. 9 - Ciaran Traquair 
Aug. 16 - Stevi Robinson 
 
For more information on The Citadel golf, follow @CitadelOlympic or visit CitadelSports.com.