Peter Coughlin enters his 15th season as the head coach of the Cal U men’s golf program, while beginning his fifth year as the head coach of the women’s golf program.
Coughlin has developed the men’s golf program into a perennial contender at the PSAC Championships, as the Vulcans recorded four runner-up finishes in a nine-year span. Cal U has also qualified as a team for the NCAA Regional Championships 12 times under Coughlin, highlighted by advancing to the 2013 NCAA National Championships.
During his time with the men’s program, Coughlin has mentored 22 All-PSAC honorees with 11 receiving first-team all-league status. The Vulcans have featured multiple All-PSAC selections in seven of the past 10 years, plus at least one all-region golfer nine times during that span.
In the spring of 2021, Coughlin coached the PSAC Freshman of the Year in Tyler Kipp. He led the team in scoring average and carded three top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the PSAC Championships. Kipp also was one of four freshmen in the country selected as an individual qualifier for the NCAA Regional Championships.
Coughlin was hired as the head coach for the women’s golf program prior to the start of the 2017-18 season. Despite only a pair of players on the roster, the Vulcans boasted two of the top golfers in the conference and the region. Newcomer Sara Suazo was selected both the PSAC Golfer and Freshman of the Year, while Cai Yan Ho claimed medalist honors at the league championships in the fall before graduating in December.
Suazo repeated as the PSAC Golfer of the Year in 2019 and qualified as an individual for the NCAA Regional Championships for a consecutive season. Additionally, Rachel Wilson became the program’s sixth golfer since 2009 to be named the PSAC Freshman of the Year.
In the fall of 2017, the men’s golf team finished second at the PSAC Championships while playing with a complete lineup of golfers that previously never appeared at the event. Cal U was the opening-round leader at the event and was the only team to shoot back-to-back rounds under 300. Ryan Smith placed third overall at the PSAC Championships and recorded one of the top single-season scoring averages in recent program history.
Smith was one of the most decorated golfers in program history, as he earned PING all-region status and All-PSAC First-Team honors three times in his career. He also became the first men’s golfer in school history to receive the PSAC Champion Scholar Award in 2018. Smith finished his career with a scoring average of 75.5 strokes, which is second-best among recent golfers that played at least 20 events.
Coughlin featured an experienced team during the 2016-17 campaign, as three seniors received All-PSAC status. The previous year, Cal U tied for seventh at the NCAA Regional Championships after finishing fifth at the league championships during the fall. Kirby Manown became only the second golfer in the last decade to finish a year with a scoring average under 75 strokes.
Cal U placed second at the PSAC Championships in both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons behind the play of some of the top golfers in program history. Charlie Durman was tabbed the 2012 PSAC Freshman of the Year after finishing in sixth place at the NCAA Regional Championships, missing the individual qualifier for the NCAA National Championships by just one stroke. He also set the single-season school record for scoring average at 74.0 strokes before placing second overall at the PSAC Championships as a sophomore.
The success by the Vulcans was also due in part to the development of Jordan Eck. He closed his four-year career with a scoring average of 75.7 strokes and was both a three-time all-region and three-time All-PSAC honoree, while finishing in the top five at the league championships in 2012 and 2013. Eck was the first player in program history to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, achieving the feat twice, in addition to receiving Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-America Scholar laurels in each of his final two seasons.
Following a historic spring season, Coughlin was named the 2013 Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by the GCAA. He helped lead the Vulcans to their first appearance at the NCAA National Championships since 1983 and mentored three All-PSAC selections. Cal U placed third in the team standings at the NCAA Regional Championships after three golfers finished among the top 20 on the leader board with Adam Jeffery placing third overall.
Cal U tied for second at the league championships in 2009 behind the play of Paul Babashanian, who finished third overall on the leader board. It marked the highest finish for the team since the program was reinstated for the 2005-06 season following a two-plus decade hiatus.
A graduate of Maryland, Coughlin came to the Vulcans after leading nearby Washington & Jefferson, a NCAA Division III program, to tremendous success. While with the Presidents, he served as both the head men’s and women’s golf coach for four-plus years.
During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, 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 Mid-Atlantic Men’s Coach of the Year after leading the Presidents to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA National Championships.
Among the PAC medalists was Michael Grasso, who became the first golfer in W&J history to be named to the GCAA PING All-America Team. Coughlin also coached Grasso to two-straight appearances in the NCAA Championships.
Prior to his tenure at W&J, the Pennsylvania native served as the golf services assistant at the Heron Creek Golf Club in North Port, Florida. During his time at Heron Creek, he represented the club in various PGA professional tour events, including the Canadian Tour Winter Qualifying School.
Coughlin earned his degree in marketing from Maryland in 1999 and served as the assistant golf professional at the University of Maryland Golf Course for two years. During that time, he grew the junior camp from 15 kids over one week to 100 junior golfers over three weeks. In addition, he instructed hundreds of golfers of every age and ability, both in individual and group settings.
Recently, Coughlin served four years as a member of the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Committee and was chair of the national committee during the 2017-18 season. He also serves as a rating panelist for Golf Digest and is the NCAA Division II Director on the GCAA National Advisory Board.
Coughlin resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jamie, and their daughter, Sadie.
