Peter Coughlin enters his third season as head coach of the California University of Pennsylvania men’s golf team in the 2009-10 season after accepting the position prior to the start of the Spring 2008 season.
This fall, Coughlin directed the Vulcans to a second-place finish at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships behind a pair of individual top-five finishes. Prior to league championships, Cal U claimed its first invitational title under Coughlin at a 17-team tournament.
In his first full season with the program last year, Coughlin guided the Vulcans to a third-place finish at the PSAC Championships and an appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Last year, Cal U also finished second at two fall tournaments, and Eric Smith earned medalist honors at an invitational during the spring season.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, Coughlin came to Cal U after leading nearby Washington & Jefferson College, a Division III program, to its most success years in program history. While with the Presidents, he served as both the head men’s & women’s golf coach for four-plus years.
During both the 2006 and 2007 season, Coughlin guided W&J to a combined four Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) championships behind four medalist golfers and seven all-conference golfers. In 2006, he was selected as the Eaton Golf Pride Division III Mid-Atlantic Men’s Coach of the Year after leading the Presidents to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championships.
Among the PAC medalists was Michael Grasso, who became the first golfer in W&J history to be named to the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) PING Division III All-America Team. Coughlin also coached Grasso to two-straight NCAA Division III Tournaments.
Prior to his tenure at W&J, the Berwick, Pa., native served as the golf services assistant at the Heron Creek Golf Club in North Port, Fla. During his time at Heron Creek, he represented the club in various PGA professional tour events, including the 2003 Canadian Tour Winter Qualifying School.
A 1999 graduate of Maryland with a degree in marketing, Coughlin became the assistant golf professional at the University of Maryland Golf Course for two years. Among his duties at the course were planning and organizing tournament for the Terps, instructing students on techniques to improve their game and scheduling and marketing the course’s junior program, which included summer camps.
