Ryan Blagg - Head Men's Golf Coach - Staff Directory - University of Louisville Athletic

Staff Directory

Ryan Blagg

Title:
Head Men's Golf Coach
Email:
Phone:
502-852-8452

Head Coach: 6^th season
^6th season at Louisville
Previous: Assistant Coach (Baylor, 2012-20), Assistant Coach (Houston Baptist, 2010-12)
Playing career: Arkansas (’02)

Team Accomplishments:

5 Straight NCAA Tournament Appearances
3 Tournament Wins (The Aggie, 2022; General Hackler, 2023, Bearcat Invitational, 2024)

Player Honors:

2 All-Americans
3 All-ACC Selections
9 All-Region Selections

Beginning his sixth season as head coach of the Cardinals, Ryan Blagg has continued to uphold the strong tradition of the University of Louisville men's golf program and has the Cardinals poised for postseason success for years to come.

In his first five seasons, Blagg has guided the Cardinals to five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, which also included a historic run at the NCAA Championships in 2020-21. The Cardinals closed the tournament tying for ninth, which was the best finish in school history and were able to make the playoff round for the third time in school history. The finish bested the 10^th-place ending from the 2008 championship.

During the 2024-25 season, Blagg’s team captured a win at the Bearcat Invitational as well as runner up finishes at both the General Hackler and the Calusa Cup. Sebastian Moss rounded out a strong senior campaign, winning three tournaments as an individual and earning Korn Ferry Tour exemption with a top ten ranking in the PGA TOUR U collegiate golf rankings.

Moss finished his career at Louisville with a 71.80 stroke average, the third best in program history. He also finished the 2024-25 season with the best single-season average in program history with a 70.03. Throughout his collegiate career, Moss tallied five tournament wins, stamping himself as one of the best golfers in Louisville history.

With Blagg in charge of the program, three Cardinals have earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors, with Jiri Zuska registering all-league accolades in both 2022 and 2023, Max Kennedy capturing honors in 2023, and Sebastian Moss earning 2024 and 2025 honors.

His 2022-23 squad, which was ranked 34th in the Golfstat rankings, posted the fifth-best single-season stroke average with a 288.39 mark and his team won the Aggie Invitational, the first win for Blagg as a head coach. Kennedy also picked up an individual win at the Aggie Invitational, another first for Blagg.

The 2021-22 season affirmed Louisville's rise to the upper echelon of NCAA men’s golf as the Cardinals made their 12th appearance in the NCAA Regionals, finishing seventh overall in the Norman Regional. During the season, the Cards posted five top-five finishes, including a second at the Bank of Tennessee.

For the second-straight year, the Cardinals put a player on the All-ACC Team as Jiri Zuska earned the honor after securing four top-10 finishes and ending the season with a 71.33 stroke average, the sixth-best mark in school history.

Blagg's first season couldn't have gone any better as the Cardinals made an impressive run all the way to the fourth day of the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz., a feat that had happened only three times in school history.

Behind the experience of four seniors, Blagg's team closed the tournament tying for ninth, which was the best finish in school history and the Cards were able to make the fourth round to finish in the top 10 in the nation. The finish bested the 10^th-place ending from the 2008 championship.

The Cardinals reached their fifth NCAA appearance by finishing fourth at the NCAA Noblesville Regional by shooting an impressive 10-under-par to finish five shots ahead of the fifth-place team.

In his first season, Blagg watched the Cardinals, make their sixth post-season appearance in the last eight seasons and earn aa trip to postseason after posting three top-five finishes in the spring, including a third at the General Hackler Championship on March 16.

AT BAYLOR:
During his successful run at Baylor, Blagg helped guide the Bears to seven consecutive regional and a school record four-straight NCAA Championship appearances from 2012-19, while mentoring six different players to earn All-American accolades during his time in Waco.

Collectively, the Bears won 15 team titles, including nine championships over the last four years. Furthermore, seven Baylor players have combined to win 12 medalist honors during Blagg's time as assistant coach.

Individually, Blagg was tabbed an assistant coach of the 2018 United States Palmer Cup team and was named the 2017 Jan Strickland Award winner – given to the assistant coach who excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.

In 2018-19, the Bears went a perfect 5-0 to run away with the inaugural Big 12 Match Play Championship, claiming the program's first Big 12 title since 2001.

The summer of 2018 Blagg's career took a giant step forward by serving as assistant coach on the U.S. Palmer Cup team, helping guide the Americans to a 38.5-21.5 victory.

In 2017-18, Blagg assisted in Baylor's run to it's to the NCAA Championship for a school record third consecutive season by finishing in third place at the NCAA Bryan Regional.

The 2016-17 season was the most successful year in program history, which included Blagg being named the 2017 Jan Strickland Award winner as the nation's top assistant coach. That same season, Baylor, which earned the program's first No. 1 ranking, won four tournaments, including tying Stanford for the regional title. Baylor advanced to match play at the 2017 NCAA Championship, earning the program's best finish with a tie for fifth place.

Blagg guided the Bears to their first NCAA Championship berth since 2010 during the 2015-16 season.
In his first season with the Bears in 2012-13, Blagg helped guide the team to seven top-five finishes and earned a berth in the 2013 NCAA Pullman Regional.

AT HOUSTON BAPTIST:
Before coming to Waco, Blagg spent two seasons at Houston Baptist, where he helped the women's program win two Great West Conference championships. In 2011, he guided the Great West Conference individual medalist, player of the year and four other all-conference selections.

Prior to Houston Baptist, Blagg served as the Head Rules Official and then the Tournament Director for The Gateway Tour. He played professionally for six years on the Adams, Hooters and Nationwide Tours, recording multiple top five finishes.

PLAYING CAREER:
Collegiately, Blagg played at Arkansas, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications in 2002. He was named to the SEC Honor Roll each of his three seasons in Fayetteville. He began his collegiate career at Tyler Junior College, where he played for former Baylor head coach Greg Priest and led the team to the 1998 NJCAA National Championship, earning All-American and Academic All-American honors.

PERSONAL:
Blagg is married to the former Lindsay Marshall, and the couple has a son named Cooper.