BULLDOG BIOS
JOSH BREWER 9TH SEASON UGA
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BREWER
AT A GLANCE PERSONAL
Birthdate: Sept. 17, 1975 Hometown: Brownstown, Ind. Family: Married to the former Selena Offredo
EDUCATION
High School: Brownstown Central (’94) Bachelor’s: Indiana (’98) – Business Management Master’s: Indiana (’08) – Kinesiology
BREWER BULLETS
◊ 4-year letterwinner at IU ◊ Helped lead IU to the 1996 NCAA Championships, a 1997 NCAA Regional bid and the 1998 Big Ten title ◊ Finished second individually at the 1998 Big Tens ◊ Named All-Big Ten in 1998 ◊ Named an All-American Scholar in 1997 and 1998 and Academic All-Big Ten in 1996, 1997 and 1998 ◊ Won the 1998 Indiana Amateur ◊ Finalist for the 2010 Jan Strickland Award for the top men’s golf assistant coach in the nation
COACHING CAREER
Indiana University ’02-08 Asst. Coach – M University of Southern Cal ’08-12 Asst. Coach – W&M University of Georgia ’12-present Head Coach
19TH SEASON AS A COLLEGE COACH
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INDIANA ’98
Josh Brewer has put Georgia women’s golf back into the national spotlight... and he’s eager for even greater success in the future. During his eight seasons in Athens, the Bulldogs have posted 27 tournament victories, with 13 team and 14 individual wins. Headlining that list is a sweep of the 2016 NCAA Bryan Regional when Georgia shot its best-ever score in postseason play (8-under). That mark stood for less than a year, when the Bulldogs carded a 9-under tally at the 2017 SECs. School records have fallen at, well, a record pace on Brewer’s watch. Individually, eight of the top-10 season stroke averages in Georgia history are owned by Bulldogs who played under Brewer, including Jillian Hollis’ school record 71.04 in 2017-18. Hollis also equaled Georgia’s single-round mark by shooting a final-round 7-under 65 en route to winning the PING/ASU Invitational last spring. In addition, Bailey Tardy broke UGA’s 54-hole tournament record by shooting 12-under at the 2015 Windy City Collegiate. On the team front, Georgia has posted its top-three season stroke averages ever. The Bulldogs also have notched seven of their top-10 tourney tallies, headlined by a school-record 19-under at the 2016 Annika Intercollegiate, and 13 of the top-20 single rounds in school history, a list that features a best-ever 13-under at the 2015 Mason Rudolph. All of the aforementioned is quite remarkable considering Brewer’s experiences with intercollegiate athletics appeared to have ended in a storybook fashion two decades ago. As a senior at Indiana, Brewer birdied the final two holes to finish second individually and help the Hoosiers secure a one-stroke victory at the 1998 Big Ten Championships. While Brewer did not know so at the time, the event was the final tournament in both his career and that of legendary coach Sam Carmichael. “That was the last year that a conference championship didn’t earn you an automatic bid to the NCAAs,” Brewer said. “We were ‘on the bubble’ and thought winning the Big Tens would get us in, but it didn’t. Obviously, I was disappointed at the time, but to look back at it now, it was a pretty neat way to wrap up my career as a college golfer.” After winning the 1998 Indiana Am crown that summer, Brewer quickly moved into the business world. He accepted a position as a financial advisor with Linsco/Private Ledger in Indianapolis. Three falls later, Mike Mayer, who moved from assistant to head coach at IU after Carmichael retired, asked Brewer to share his experiences in golf and school and the transition to professional life with the current team. “I just really enjoyed the interaction with the student-athletes,” Brewer said. “On the way home, my wife Selena said she hadn’t seen me that happy in a while. She suggested that college coaching might be something I should explore.” Chalk one up for the wife.
GOING BACK TO BLOOMINGTON
Brewer planted a seed with Mayer, who also was his childhood golf instructor, and when an opening arose soon thereafter, Brewer returned to IU. “I can honestly say Josh was the hardest worker I have ever seen,” Mayer said. “Josh brings a level of intensity to this program that has been vital to our success. He accepts nothing less than perfection.” Brewer helped the Hoosiers enjoy very solid success over the next six seasons. Indiana was represented in NCAA competition each of his those campaigns. After reaching in NCAA Regionals in 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Hoosiers returned to the NCAA Championships as a team in 2008, their first appearance since Brewer’s sophomore year in 1996. All told, Brewer helped coach two All-Americans, three Big Ten Players of the Year honorees, two Palmer Cup members, one Walker Cup member and four scholastic All-Americans.
ON TO SOUTHERN CAL
In 2008, Brewer ventured from his roots to become assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s golf teams at Southern Cal, where he helped both programs thrive during four seasons in Los Angeles. Brewer help produce two PAC-10 Championships teams and golfers who won National Player of the Year, National Freshman of the Year, 12 All-America certificates, three PAC-10 Player of the Year awards and two PAC-10 Freshman of the Year accolades. In addition, USC had two Curtis Cup and two Palmer Cup team members.
THE NEXT CHALLENGE
On June 18, 2012, Brewer was named the head coach at the University of Georgia. “I have been blessed to learn under some of the country’s greatest coaches, and I look forward to using these lessons,” Brewer said. “Georgia is a program that has a rich and storied history beginning with one of women’s athletics greatest visionaries and leaders, Liz Murphey. I want to help build on the tradition she started at UGA of winning championships while graduating our student-athletes.” Brewer’s first eight seasons in Athens have demonstrated that he is well on his way to doing just that.
2020--21 georgia golf • 7 2020
