Garren named Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Head Coach of the Year

Cartersville native and current Coastal Carolina University Men’s Head Golf Coach Jim Garren was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year this week in a release by the conference.

The Chanticleers’ head coach was one of several golf recognitions for the 2018 Coastal Carolina team.

First-year player Morgan Deneen was named Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and was voted first team All-Sun Belt. Luis Ruiz was tabbed second team All-Sun Belt and Thadd Obecny II was selected third team All-Sun Belt.

Garren took over the Chanticleer men’s program last August with only four golfers and one signee in the program. He held an open tryout and added two players to the roster in September. Conference first-team selection Deneen, a student in the University’s PGA Golf Management program, was one of those two players.

CCU took a convincing stroke-play victory at the conference championship and then defeated South Alabama and Georgia Southern in the match-play portion to advance to the program’s 12th NCAA postseason appearance.

Coastal finished tenth at the 54-hole NCAA Reunion Resort Regional won by the University of Florida May 14-16. The Chanticleers shot 290-288-281 for a 5-under-par total. Ruiz led CCU with a tie for 14th (4-under) in the individual competition. Deneen tied for 26th at 2-under-par.

Along with the Sun Belt Conference Championship, Garren led Coastal to one of its best seasons ever. The team’s scoring average, number of birdies, par-3 scoring average, and par-4 scoring average all ranked in the top four or better for any team in program history.

The 15 rounds of par or better by the Chants was one shy of the school record.

“I’m honored to be named Coach of the Year,” Garren said. “This is truly a program award. Even though my name is on it, (assistant coach) Jeremy Alcorn and all our players deserve credit for the recognition. Thank you to the Sun Belt coaches for recognizing our season.”

Prior to taking the CCU job, Garren spent three seasons as the assistant coach for the Oklahoma Sooners men's golf program and helped guide that program to the 2017 National Championship. His ten years of collegiate coaching experience have also included stints at Southern Mississippi and New Mexico as an assistant.