NORMAN, Okla.- The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) has named UIndy Men’s Golf Head Coach
Brent Nicoson as a finalist to coach the United States team in the prestigious Palmer Cup, to be held at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland June 24-26.
“It is an quite honor to be selected as a finalist to coach in such a prestigious event,” says Nicoson. “I think it reflects a great deal of respect for our program as a whole that a coach at a Division II school would be in the running to coach in an international event featuring some of the top collegiate golfers in the world.”
Named after legendary golfer and seven-time major-winner Arnold Palmer, the Palmer Cup uses a Ryder Cup-style format to bring together the top eight collegiate players in the United States against their counterparts from Europe. First contested in 1997, the event’s all-time series is dead even at 6-6-1, thanks to European wins in the each of the previous two years.
During the 13-year history of the event, the list of outstanding collegians that have participated include such names as: Luke Donald, Rory Sabbatini, Charles Howell, III, Jonathan Byrd, Ben Curtis, Lucas Glover, Bryce Molder, Graeme McDowell, Bill Haas, Hunter Mahan, Ryan Moore, D.J. Trahan, Alejandro Canazares, Gonzalo Castano, J.B. Holmes, 2006 USGA Amateur Champion Richard Ramsey, Open de Portugal winner Pablo Martin, Dustin Johnson, and Luke List.
Coach Nicoson is a two-time Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Golf Coach of the Year and has guided UIndy to back-to-back GLVC titles. The Greyhounds were also the 2008 Great Lakes Region champs and placed highly at each of the last two NCAA D-II Championship Tournaments, finishing eighth in 2008 and tied for sixth in 2009.
This season, the Hounds notched top-five finishes in all five fall events while compiling a 63-14 team record. Indianapolis resumes competition this February at the Golfweek Spring Invitational in Orlando, Fla. Feb. 7-8.