OREGON MEN’S GOLF
The Coaching Staff GODUCKS.COM
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OREGON MEN’S GOLF
History / Records 2012-13 Recap
The Ducks
Coaching Staff
2013-14 Outlook
Casey Martin • Head Coach
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CASEY MARTIN Head Coach Eighth Year Stanford ‘95
also tabbed to the All-Pac-12 First Team, while Vijarro earned his second honorable mention (and was a second-team choice in ‘11). Two years before, Martin was honored by his league peers as the 2010 Pac-12 Coach of the Year after another ground-breaking campaign.
PGA Tour veteran, former NCAA Champion and Eugene native Casey Martin enters his eighth season in 2013-14 after amassing one of the Ducks’ most impressive resumes in any sport. In his short tenure, he has transformed Oregon into a national golf power, and guided the team to four NCAA Championship appearances the past five years. In that span, UO has tied for the lead at the end of regulation of the Pac-12 Championships the last two seasons, and scored a third-runner-up effort in ‘09. In NCAA Regional play, Oregon has been equally up to par with one title (2010) and three runner-up efforts (2008, ‘09, ‘12) among its six straight appearances . The 2011-12 season was arguably the Ducks’ greatest season ever and featured a record six team wins among their 12 stroke-play events, and an even more amazing postseason run. In the collegiate finale in L.A., UO matched its best-ever finish among its 25 NCAA trips with a third-place tie. The Ducks lost their hard-fought semifinal to No.1-ranked and eventual national champion Texas, 3-2, at the Riviera Country Club. Earlier in the week, Oregon beat No. 5 UCLA, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, and stood seventh in stroke play (291-294-288-873) after it sported three individuals in the top 30 overall (Eugene Wong, 13th, 215 (-1); Daniel Miernicki, 21st, 216 (+2); Andrew Vijarro, 29th, 217 (+2)). Two weeks before in the Ann Arbor NCAA Regional, the Ducks equaled their best-ever finish (second) after they ended one stroke behind USC. Not surprisingly, Oregon featured all five individuals in the top 45 overall - Miernicki (second, 206 (-7)); Jonathan Woo (seventh, 208 (-5)), Wong (19th, (E)), Vijarro (28th, +2)) and Robbie Ziegler (45th, +9)). In the Pac-12 Championships two weeks prior, UO tied its bestever league finish and placed second in a two-hole playoff to California. The two teams ended the six-count-five, four-round event tied at 12-under after regulation at the Tysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis. In the event that featured six teams ranked top 13 nationally, Miernicki placed second individually (-11) - two strokes shy of the win. Wong trailed once place back in third (-9)), and both posted career-best league placings, while two other Ducks followed in a tie for 21st place - Vijarro and Ziegler. In return for their historic play all season long, the Ducks amassed a host of individual accolades in 2011-12. Wong picked up his second Pac-12 Golfer of the Year, All-Nicklaus Team and PING All-America First Team honors. Miernicki joined Wong on the top PING All-America squad - his first, first-team nod after he earned second-team honors as a sophomore. Both were
That season, he led the Ducks to a then-school-record five tournament victories, including Oregon’s first-ever NCAA Regional title, and a third-place tie in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. After securing a spot in the final eight with a fifth-place finish through the stroke play portion of the championships, the Ducks defeated Pac-10 rival Washington, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of match play. Oregon’s historic run was ended on The Honors Course by Oklahoma State, which took the semifinal 3-1-1. Eugene Wong was tabbed the co-Pac-10 Golfer of the Year, won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the Division I player of the year, and was named a first-team PING All-American. Wong’s tie for ninth at the NCAA Championships is believed to be the best finish ever by a UO golfer. Not surprisingly, the Ducks have shined since the start of his head coaching tenure, as the Ducks won the 2006 Northwest Collegiate Classic - his second event at the helm. The following spring, Oregon also claimed the 2007 Thunderbird Invitational title at Arizona State for the first time in school history. Glancing at the program record books since 1993-94 only confirms the obvious, as his teams have staked 11 individual tourney wins, and own the: • top five individual season scoring averages • five of the top six low individual tournament scores • three top career individual totals for rounds of par or better • 20 of the top 28 low individual rounds • top four season tallies for rounds of par or better • 14 of the top 19 low team rounds • 14 of the top 17 low 54-hole tourney team totals vs. par • 6 of the 7 best team season scoring averages The golf community is equally familiar with Martin’s esteemed accomplishments as a player. A graduate of South Eugene High School, Martin was a three time all-conference selection, a two-time All-American at Stanford and member of its 1994 NCAA Championship squad. As a senior, he received Academic All-America honors in 1995 and graduated with a degree in economics. He played professionally starting in 1998 and earned his PGA Tour card in 2000. During that year, he recorded five top-50 finishes, and his best showing was a tie for 17th in the Tucson Open. Other career highlights include an impressive 23rd-place tie in the 1998 U.S. Open. Even though he re-directed his love for the sport as a collegiate coach in the fall of 2005, he flashed his undeniable athletic skill seven years later in June, 2012.
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OREGON MEN’S GOLF
Casey Martin • Head Coach
2013-14 Outlook
After winning the local 2012 U.S. Open qualifier at Emerald Valley, he returned to the nation’s toughest golf test at the Olympic Club in San Francisco two weeks later. In his first elite appearance in nearly a decade, the soft-spoken fan favorite became the event’s most heart-warming story, and his nine-over score (74-75-149) was only one stroke shy of the midway cut.
Coaching Staff
The 40-year-old Martin is also known for his court battle with the PGA Tour over the right to use a golf cart in competition. Martin suffers from a birth defect in his right leg known as KlippelTrenaunay-Webber Syndrome, a congenital circulatory disorder. Under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Martin won the right to use a golf cart in a legal case with the PGA that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. His efforts in that landmark case earned him the 1998 Ben Hogan Award, given annually to a competitor who continues to be active in golf despite a physical handicap. In 2001, Nike began bestowing an annual Casey Martin Award to recognize a disabled athlete. Martin, whose brother Cameron was a member of Oregon’s golf team in the early 1990s, has also been named Time magazine person of the week (2001) and New Mobility magazine person of the year (2002).
The Ducks
He is the ninth man to hold the head coaching position at the University of Oregon. He succeeded Steve Nosler, whom he served under as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2005-06 season. Martin’s dedication to the sport of golf, Eugene and the University of Oregon has made him a perfect fit for the UO golf program. Having learned many invaluable lessons throughout his playing days, Martin is now eager to pass them on to Oregon’s players.
Coaching Profile
Conference Regional Year Wins Finish Finish NCAA Finish All-Americans 2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 Totals
1 6 1 5 1 - 2 15
6th 2nd 2nd 6th 2nd 9th 8th -
8th 2nd 5th 1st 2nd 2nd 19th 6
- 3rd 10th 3rd 22nd 27th - 5
- 2 - 2 1 - - 5
Nicklaus Academic Golfer of the Year All-Conference All-Conference - - - 1 - - - 1
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- 3 2 2 1 1 - 9
1 - 1 1 1 - 1 4
2012-13 Recap History / Records
Head Coach Casey Martin
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OREGON MEN’S GOLF
History / Records 2012-13 Recap
The Ducks
Coaching Staff
2013-14 Outlook
Van Williams • Assistant Coach
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Van Williams Assistant Coach First Year UNC Wilmington ‘04
Van Williams is entering his first season as an assistant coach for the Oregon men’s golf team. He joins the staff with a resume that includes both prep and collegiate experience. Williams comes to UO from Wake Tech Community College where he was the head golf coach from 2011-13. He led the Eagles to their first ever National Junior College Athletic Association ranking after the NJCAA Tournament in 2013. He also guided Ryan Gilbert to a third-place finish at the NJCAA Tournament in 2013. In his first two seasons at the helm, Williams successfully recruited a pair of top-10 recruits in North Carolina. In addition to coaching both men’s and women’s golf, Williams also helped start the men’s basketball program in 2009 at Wake Tech and was the school’s first head men’s basketball coach. Williams was named the 2013 NJCAA Region X Coach of the Year when Wake Tech accumulated a 24-9 record and was a runner-up at the Division II Region X finals. The Eagles were also ranked for the first time in program history that year climbing as high as 17th. Williams also coached a pair of North Carolina East/ West All-Star selections.
Williams then moved on as an assistant men’s basketball coach at his alma mater, Shaw University, where he was in charge of player development and conditioning. During his stint at Shaw, Williams recruited two All-CIAA players. Williams was a two-sport athlete at Southeastern University (1998-2000) where he was a two-year starter for the basketball team, while also playing golf. As a member of the golf team he earned an individual medal at the Clearwater Christian College Invitational in 1999. The North Carolina native then moved to Shaw University where he helped lead the basketball team to the 2002 NCAA Division II Final Four in Evansville, Ind. During that historic season, the Bears compiled a 28-5 record, winning the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Eastern Division, the CIAA Tournament and the NCAA Division II South-Athletic Regional Championship. In his final season, Williams led the league in 3-point field goals per game and was seventh in Division II in 3-pointers made per game (3.65). In his first year at SU, Williams was named to the CIAA All-Rookie Team. Williams also served as a caddie for Oregon head coach Casey Martin (2001-04) on the PGA and Nationwide tours. Martin’s best finish during Williams’ tenure as a caddie was a tie for third at the 2002 LaSalle Bank Open.
Four of Wake Tech’s players moved on playing at the Division I level. The most notable of the four was Lamont Middleton, who signed with North Carolina A&T. Middleton helped guide the Aggies to a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship and a spot in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. North Carolina A&T lost to Louisville, the eventual national champions, in the first round. Prior to joining Wake Tech, Williams started his career as an associate men’s basketball coach at Cape Fear Community College for two years (2006-08). During his time with the Sea Devils, Williams was in charge of player development as well as serving as the tournament director for the 2008 men’s and women’s NJCAA Region X Division I Basketball Tournament. GODUCKS.COM