Jim Ragan was named as the Cal State Monterey Head Women’s Coach in the spring of 2019. He wasted no time in leading the Otters to a second place CCAA finish and an appearance in the NCAA West Regional.
That was the start of what has proven to be a successful run for the lady Otters. The Women’s golf team has excelled on the golf course and in the classroom since Ragan’s arrival.
Success on the golf course extends into the classroom. The Women’s Golf Team consistently carries one of the highest GPAs of any team at Cal State Monterey Bay. In 202? the team was recognized nationally by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association as being one of the top GPA ranked teams in D-2 golf. Since 2019, the lady Otters have produced 9 Academic All-Americans with 4 more projected for 2024.
Jim enters his 25th year as a college coach, Twenty as the men’s coach and the past five at Monterey Bay as the women’s coach. He has coached at some of the most premier college athletics programs in the country. Starting his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Texas (Austin), head coach at Vanderbilt University, head coach at the University of Oklahoma and head coach at UC San Diego.
He has coached and/or recruited 9 PGA/European Tour players as a Division 1 college coach:
At Texas
Harrison Frazar PGA Tour Winner and current PGA Senior Tour Player
Brad Elder was 1998 College player of the Year and PGA Tour play
Davis Gossett (recruited) US Amateur Champion and PGA Tour Winner
At Vanderbilt
Brandt Snedeker 2007 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, 9 PGA Tour Wins, 2012 FedEx Cup Winner
"Jim recruited me when no one else would. He saw the golfer I would be and pushed me to reach that," said Snedeker. "I can't thank him enough for all his hard work and his investment in not only me as a player, but me as a person."
At Oklahoma
Cody Freeman PGA Tour
Martin Flores PGA Tour
Carlos de Moral European Tour
Jordie Garcia European Tour
Anthony Kim 3 PGA Tour Wins
Jim had been a member of the PGA since 1992. His career started after becoming one of the first Professional Golf Management graduates from the Mississippi State University program. Ragan’s first full time golf job was as an instructor with the famed Golf Digest Instruction Schools. He became the youngest instructor in the history of the organization after completing 2 internships while still in college.
“My time spent with some of the most legendary instructors in the game provided me with a strong foundation to grow and continue to understand how to coach the game. Bob Toski, Davis Love Jr., Paul Runyan, Chuck Cook, Louise Suggs, Bob Rotella, John Elliot, Scott Davenport, Tom Ness, Dick Aultman, Jack Lumpkin, Jim Flick, Mark Wood and Ben Doyle were the teachers who initially taught me how to teach.”
At Cal State Monterey Bay Jim serves as the strength and conditioning coach for the Women’s Golf team as well as the Head Coach. He holds certifications from TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) as a Level 3 Fitness Coach, Level 3 Junior Coach and a Level 2 Bio-mechanist. He is also certified as a Golf Performance Specialist from Gary Gray’s Golf Certification (formally Nike 360).
“The link between golf fitness and golf performance is a very delicate one. I have spent thousands of hours studying, learning and implementing the techniques we use to first predict and prevent injury and then to enhance performance based on each individual needs on our golf team.”
Jim has utilized his golf experiences to implement mental training into every aspect of the women’s golf program at Cal State Monterey Bay. “My first exposure to the importance of addressing the mental aspect of golf was in 1989 when I shared a condo with Dr Bob Rotella when we were doing a VIP Golf Digest School. I have continued (especially the last 10 years to understand how the brain works in relation to golf) to pursue the mental side of the game, studying and understanding many different perspectives. Almost all of the modern practitioners sooner or later reference Bob Rotella and his work. He is the Godfather or “GOAT” of golf psychology!”
“I am excited about what is in place from a resource standpoint here at Cal State Monterey Bay for the players on our team. We have an opportunity to become as complete as a women’s college program as there is at any level. I am looking forward to seeing how far we can take this program!”
