Ryan Blagg Bio
Ryan Blagg, the 2017 Jan Strickland Award winner and an assistant coach on the United States’ 2018 Palmer Cup team, has spent the past eight seasons with the Baylor men’s golf program and has 10 years of experience as a Division I coach. The Bears advanced to NCAA Regional play in each of Blagg’s first seven seasons, including a school-record streak of four consecutive NCAA Championship berths.
Blagg has coached six different players to nine All-America seasons over his first eight years in Waco. The Bears have won 15 team titles during his tenure, including nine championships over the last four years.Additionally, seven Baylor players have combined to win 12 medalist honors during Blagg’s eight seasons as assistant coach.
Baylor finished the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season ranked No. 9 nationally. The Bears recorded top-two finishes in four of six stroke-play tournaments, including titles at the Gopher Invitational and Fighting Illini Invitational. BU had multiple All-Americans for the third time in a four-year span, as Cooper Dossey became Baylor’s second First-Team All-American and Johnny Keefer earned honorable mention. Additionally, Keefer joined Dossey as the only players in program history named to the five-man GCAA All-Freshmen Team.
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. Baylor players went a combined 20-5-5 in the match play tournament, culminating with a dominant 5-1 win over Kansas in the title match, while Dossey and Colin Kober each went undefeated at 5-0 in their matches.
The 2018-19 squad also claimed a tournament title at the Trinity Forest Invitational, with Ryan Grider sinking a long putt on the final hole to give the Bears a one-shot victory over tournament-host SMU. BU recorded five top-three finishes, including third place at the NCAA Louisville Regional to secure its fourth consecutive NCAA Championship berth. Kober was named the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner for a second consecutive season and claimed Big 12 Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
| THE BLAGG FILE |
| RYAN BLAGG |
| College |
Arkansas, 2002 |
| Family |
wife: Lindsay; son: Cooper |
| COACHING EXPERIENCE |
| Year |
School, Position |
| 2010-12 |
Houston Baptist, assistant coach (men's and women's) |
| 2012-pres. |
Baylor, assistant coach |
| POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE |
| Year |
School, Position |
| 2013 |
NCAA Pullman Regional (t-10th), assistant coach, Baylor |
| 2014 |
NCAA Eugene Regional (10th), assistant coach, Baylor |
| 2015 |
NCAA Bremerton Regional (6th), assistant coach, Baylor |
| 2016 |
NCAA Championship (27th), assistant coach, Baylor |
| 2017 |
NCAA Championship (t-5th), assistant coach, Baylor |
| 2018 |
NCAA Championship (30th), assistant coach, Baylor |
| 2019 |
NCAA Championship (t-27th), assistant coach, Baylor |
During the summer of 2018, Blagg served as assistant coach on the U.S. Palmer Cup team, helping guide the Americans to a 38.5-21.5 victory at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France.
BU’s 2017-18 squad finished the season ranked No. 16 nationally according to Golfstat. The Bears started the season with six consecutive top-four finishes, including a second straight Royal Oaks Intercollegiate title and second-place finishes at the Gopher Invitational and the All-American Intercollegiate. BU also finished third at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and the Arizona Intercollegiate. They advanced to the NCAA Championship for a school-record third consecutive season by finishing in third place at the NCAA Bryan Regional.
Three Baylor golfers picked up All-America recognition for their efforts during the 2017-18 season, with Braden Bailey, Garrett May and Matthew Perrine all honored. Additionally, Dossey joined that trio to give the Bears four PING All-Central Region selections. Perrine was named the 2018 Byron Nelson Award winner, and Kober won the NCAA Elite 90 Award.
In 2016-17, Blagg helped the Bears to the most successful year in program history. Baylor won four tournaments and had a streak of seven consecutive top-three finishes. The Bears won the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, the All-American, the Linger Longer Invitational and shared the title with the tournament host at the NCAA Stanford Regional. BU also took second place at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, the Querencia Cabo Collegiate and the Aggie Invitational. BU earned its first No. 1 national ranking in Golfweek’s April 3, 2017, poll.
Baylor advanced to match play at the 2017 NCAA Championship, earning the program’s best finish with a tie for fifth place after falling 3-2 in a 19th hole playoff against eventual national champion Oklahoma.
A trio of players on the 2016-17 squad earned All-America honors, with Bailey, Dossey and Perrine all recognized. Dossey was named 2017 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and was selected to the five-member GCAA All-Freshmen Team. Hunter Shattuck and May joined that trio to give the Bears a school-record five All-Region honorees. Blagg was also named the 2017 Jan Strickland Award winner as the nation’s top assistant coach.
In 2015-16, Blagg guided the Bears to their first NCAA Championship berth since 2010. Baylor advanced to the NCAA Kohler (Wis.) Regional, where the Bears mounted a back-nine comeback in the final round of the regional, combining for 17 birdies to finish tied for fourth and earn one of five NCAA Championship spots awarded at the regional.
BU placed 27th at the NCAA Championship, marking the then-fifth-best end-of-season finish in program history. The 2015-16 Baylor squad claimed tournament titles at the Oak Hills Invitational and the Border Olympics, finished second in The Maxwell Intercollegiate and recorded nine top-five finishes in 13 tournaments.
In 2014-15, Blagg led the Bears to three tournament titles and seven top-three finishes. Baylor finished in seventh place or better in every tournament, placing in the top half of the field in 11 of 12 events. Baylor also advanced to the NCAA Bremerton, Ore., Regional. BU finished in sixth place in Bremerton, one spot back of an NCAA Championship berth.
The Bears claimed tournament titles at the Gopher Invitational, Oak Hills Invitational and Border Olympics. BU also placed second at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate and finished in third place at the Fighting Illini Invitational, Rod Myers Invitational and Bayou City Collegiate Championship.  Â
In 2013-14, Blagg helped the Bears to top-five finishes in nine of 11 regular season tournaments, including seven times in the top three. Baylor also advanced to the NCAA West Regional in Eugene, Ore., where the Bears finished in 10th place. Additionally, Blagg helped coach Kyle Jones, who became the 12th All-American in program history.
In his first season with the Bears, Blagg helped guide the team to seven top-five finishes, including a tournament title at the 2012 Warrior-Wave Intercollegiate. The Bears earned a berth in the 2013 NCAA Pullman Regional, where they finished in 10th place.
Blagg spent two seasons at Houston Baptist, where he helped the women’s program capture its second- and third-straight 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.
He played collegiately at Arkansas, where he graduated in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. 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.
Blagg is married to the former Lindsay Marshall, and the couple has a son named Cooper.