The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Golf
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Coach
Sixth Season at Texas
Pronunciation: COUGH-lan
A former PGA TOUR and European Tour professional, Richie Coughlan enters his first season as Assistant Coach at The University of Texas and his sixth year on the Texas staff. Coughlan served in the role of Volunteer Assistant Coach with the Longhorns for the previous five seasons.
During his five years (2017-22) as Volunteer Assistant Coach at Texas, Coughlan helped the Longhorns win one NCAA team championship (2022), advance to Match Play at the NCAA Championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2022) and reach the NCAA Championship in all four opportunities (no NCAA tourney in 2020 due to COVID-19). In addition to the NCAA title in 2022, Texas also earned a runner-up finish in 2019 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018.
Last year, the Longhorns claimed their fourth NCAA team title in program history. After dealing with injuries to both Parker Coody and Pierceson Coody during the late fall and early part of the spring schedule, the Longhorns were a much-improved team once the calendar turned to March. UT captured back-to-back team titles at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational and the Western Intercollegiate, marking the first time the Longhorns won team championships at consecutive tourneys since April 2017.
At the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., Texas had solid showings in the third and fourth rounds of stroke play to finish in fourth place and secure its spot in Match Play. The Longhorns defeated Oklahoma State (3-2-0) in the quarterfinals and beat top-seed Vanderbilt (3-1-1) in the semifinals to advance to the championship match. Texas posted a dramatic 3-2-0 victory over tournament host Arizona State in the final to win its first NCAA team title since 2012.
John Fields was tabbed Golfweek’s Men’s National Coach of the Year. Pierceson Coody (second team), Travis Vick (second team), Cole Hammer (third team) and Parker Coody (honorable mention) claimed All-America honors from PING/Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), and all five players in the NCAA lineup were named to the PING All-Central Region team.
During the 2021 season, the Longhorns suffered a rash of illnesses leading into nationals and tied for 25th at the NCAA Championships. Texas advanced to the NCAA Championships by winning the NCAA Noblesville (Ind.) Regional by five strokes. Cole Hammer won individual medalist honors at the Big 12 Championships, and Pierceson Coody (first team), Hammer (honorable mention) and Travis Vick (honorable mention) earned All-America accolades from PING/GCAA. The 2020 campaign was stopped in mid-March due to COVID-19, but both Pierceson Coody (second team) and Parker Coody (honorable mention) received All-America recognition by PING/GCAA.
Led by the freshman trio of Cole Hammer, Pierceson Coody and Parker Coody, the youthful Longhorns capped an outstanding 2019 season with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. After finishing the four rounds of stroke play in a tie for fourth place, Texas defeated Oklahoma (3-2-0) in the quarterfinals and followed with a dramatic 3-2-0 victory over top-ranked Oklahoma State in the semifinals. With the match against Oklahoma State tied at 2-2, senior Steven Chervony made a birdie putt on 18 to even his contest and then closed out his match in 19 holes when OSU’s Zach Bauchou missed a short par putt. The Longhorns fell to Stanford by a 3-2 score in the NCAA Championship match.
UT advanced to the 2019 NCAA Championships by winning the NCAA Austin Regional by 20 strokes, and Chervony and Hammer shared co-medalist honors with TCU’s Stefano Mazzoli. Hammer earned the Division I Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award and claimed consensus first-team All-America honors, while Chervony, Pierceson Coody and Parker Coody each garnered honorable mention All-America accolades from PING/GCAA.
During Coughlan’s first season in Austin (2018), the senior duo of Doug Ghim and Scottie Scheffler led the Longhorns to a tie for fifth place at the NCAA Championships. After finishing the four rounds of stroke play in a tie for sixth place, Texas dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to second-seeded Duke in the NCAA quarterfinals. The Longhorns advanced to the 2018 NCAA Championships by winning the NCAA Raleigh (N.C.) Regional by 17 strokes. Ghim earned medalist honors at both the NCAA Raleigh Regional and the Big 12 Championship.
Ghim claimed the Ben Hogan Award as the National Player of the Year in men’s collegiate golf. He became just the second Longhorn (Jeff Fahrenbruch, 1997) to earn the prestigious award. Ghim also claimed consensus first-team All-America honors, while Scheffler garnered third-team All-America recognition from PING/GCAA.
Prior to his time at Texas, Coughlan was a PGA TOUR Academy Staff Instructor at TPC San Antonio in 2010 before serving as the Head Instructor for the next six years (2011-16). He earned PGA TOUR Academy Instructor of the Year honors in 2014. He previously worked as a staff instructor at the Schenectady Municipal Golf Course before moving on to serve as a PGA TOUR Academy Staff Instructor at Weston Hills Country Club and World Golf Village.
Coughlan worked extensively with top junior golfers of AJGA standard, college players competing at all division levels and professional mini-tour players, including Cameron Beckman, Frank Connor and Mike McCullough.
Before entering the golf instruction profession, Coughlan played on the PGA TOUR in 1998, 2001 and 2002, on the European Tour (1998) and on the Nationwide Tour (currently the Korn Ferry Tour) in 2003-05. He became the first player in the history of professional golf to qualify for both the PGA TOUR and the European Tour in his rookie season in 1997. Coughlan recorded four top-25 finishes on the PGA TOUR in his career, including a career-best ninth-place showing at the 1998 B.C. Open.
Coughlan played collegiately from 1993-97 at Clemson University, where he was one of the most consistent players in program history. A school-record 135 of his 144 career rounds were counting scores towards the team score, and he remains the only player in Clemson history to play at least 30 rounds and have all of his rounds count in two different seasons.
A three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection, Coughlan posted three consecutive top-10 individual finishes at the NCAA Regionals from 1994-96, as he was fourth as a freshman in 1994, second in 1995 as a sophomore and eighth in 1996 as a junior. During his senior season in 1997, Coughlan earned first-team All-America honors and was named the ACC Co-Player of the Year. He had the lowest stroke average on a team that placed third at the 1997 NCAA Championship and won the ACC Championship. Coughlan finished sixth in the individual standings at the NCAA Championship and was No. 9 in the nation in the final NCAA individual rankings.
A native of Birr, Ireland, Coughlan represented Great Britain and Ireland at both the 1997 Palmer Cup and the 1997 Walker Cup. A 1997 graduate of Clemson University, he was named to the ACC’s 50-year Anniversary Team in 2003. Coughlan was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.
Coughlan and his wife, Ryan, reside in Georgetown with their two daughters, Quinn and Rowan.
