CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina University Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and University Recreation Matt Hogue announced Thursday afternoon that head men’s golf coach Jim Garren has resigned his position to pursue other coaching opportunities.
“We thank Jim for his service to Coastal Carolina University and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Hogue said. “We will begin our search for the next head coach immediately.”
“I enjoyed my time at Coastal. I’m proud of all that we were able to accomplish over my five years here,” Garren quoted. “I’m excited to see the growth that our program had over my time here and wish it continued success. At the same time, I’m excited about the next step in my career.”
Hired on July 20, 2017, Garren served as the head men’s golf coach for five seasons in helping the Chanticleers make the transition to the Sun Belt Conference.
Garren and the Chanticleers experienced immediate success as Coastal won the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Golf Championship in his first season at the helm of the program, earning him 2018 Sun Belt Men’s Golf Coach of the Year honors. The Chanticleers moved up 43 spots nationally in his first two years in 2018 and 2019 despite revamped schedules that saw the Chanticleers play against the nation’s best.
Over his time at CCU, Garren’s teams won five team tournament titles, including the 2018 Sun Belt Men’s Golf Championship, and recorded 16 top-five team finishes overall. The Chanticleers were also represented in three NCAA Regionals with the 2020 NCAA Championships being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a team, the Chants competed in the 2018 NCAA Kissimmee Regional, while Zack Taylor played in both the 2019 NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional and the 2021 NCAA Noblesville Regional events.
Under Garren’s tutelage, the Chants had two Sun Belt Newcomers of the Year in Morgan Deneen (2018) and Zack Taylor (2019), a Sun Belt individual tournament champion in Deneen (2018), and eight All-Sun Belt selections in Zack Taylor (2019 and 2021), States Fort (2021), Seth Taylor (2021), Wes Artac (2019), Deneen (2018), Luis Ruiz (2018), and Thadd Obecny II (2018).
Zack Taylor was tabbed a Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA)/Ping All-Region selection back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019, while a total of five student-athletes earned GCAA All-America Scholar recognition since Garren’s arrival, including a program-record three GCAA All-America Scholars in 2018.
