Entering his ninth year at the helmof the Pacific golf program, head coach Brandon Goethals looks tocontinue his programs climb up the national ladder and continue thesuccess achieved througout his first eight seasons. After finishingjust off the pace for four straight years, Goethals and his Tigersbroke through in 2012-13 with a championship finish at the Big WestTournament to earn the programs second conference title. Inaddition to taking the team title, Goethals helped guide sophomoreEric Sugimoto to Pacific's second-straight individualchampionship.
In addition to their titles,Pacific earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second time inthree season in 2012-13 where the Tigers just missed out on a tripto the championship rounds. The Tigers earned their tripto the 2013 Regionals and their conference title with a playoffvictory at the Big West Championships on April 30. Tied with CalState Fullerton at the end of 54-holes, the Tigers won theconference's bid to the post-season with a dominating playoffperformance that saw Pacific outshoot the Titans by four-strokes onthe extra-hole.
In 2011-12, the Tigers faced arebuilding year as Pacific had just two upperclassmen on theroster. Led by their veterans and a slew of youth, the Tigers cameon strong in the second half of the season as they built towardsthe Big West Championship tournament. Despite not finishing wherethey had wanted, the Tigers did see individual success at thechampionships as Goethals coached then-junior Alex Edfort to theBig West Individual title and a berth into the NCAA tournament.
Despite finishing in second in theBig West in 2010-11, the Tigers did hit one of their majorpreseason goals as Pacific advanced to the NCAA tournament with aplace at the San Diego Regional. Led by a crew ofupper-classmen, the Tigers just missed advancing to thechampionship rounds of the NCAA as they were edged out by Texas forthe final spot. In addition to their work in the NCAAtournament, the 2010-11 season saw a historic performance by theGoethals led Tigers as Pacific took home their own PacificInvitational title by a whopping 19 strokes. Pacific shot arecord -25, 827 through the three day tournament, shattering theprevious tournament record by 15 strokes.
In 2009-10, the Tigers continuedtheir ascent to the top of the Big West as Pacific finished secondat the Big West Championships. Throughout the year the Tigersshowed glimpses of brilliance, none more so then at the Bill CullumInvitational in October where Pacific picked up its firsttournament win of the year. Additionally, Goethals helped guideAlex Johnson to his first-ever individual championship at thetournament.
Four seasons into his tenure atPacific, Goethals firmly placed his stamp on the University of thePacific Golf program. With his fourth recruiting class in place theTigers jumped up to the upper echelon of the Big West, finishingsecond at the Big West Championships for the first time in Goethalscareer. In addition to their impressive finish at the end of theyear tournament, the Tigers took home the Rice Intercollegiatechampionship for the first team tournament win under Goethalsguidance.
Brandon's meticulous and demandingsystem has allowed for the Tigers to gain more than 50 rankingspots a year since he took over in 2005. The GolfWeek/Golf Worldrankings have seen the Tigers move from 200th in the country allthe way into the top-50 in 2010.
In addition to stellar recruitingclasses, Goethals has been the driving force behind golf inStockton. The Tigers' collegiate tournament, the PacificInvitational brings together 12 teams from around the country forfour days of golf at Pacific's home course, Brookside Country Club.In addition to revamping the Pacific Invitational Goethals hasbreathed new life into the Tiger Hunt; the annual celebration ofPacific Golf with players, alumni, boosters and friends ofathletics. The junior golf program in Stockton has certainly notbeen overlooked under Goethals. The two coaches created the PacificGolf Academy this past summer, attended by thirty junior golfersfrom the across the state. The new Academy, along with the TigerHunt and Pacific Invitational are just a small focal point ofGoethals' influence at Pacific and in the Stockton community.
In 2007-08, Brandon guided theTigers to a nationally competitive schedule with stops in RhodeIsland, Texas and Hawaii. The Tigers finished runner-up at the DelWalker Intercollegiate for their closest look at a victory innearly a decade and then freshman TJ Bordeaux responded with anindividual win in Oregon under Goethals' guidance. Pacific closedout their season with a disappointing fourth place finish at theBig West but saw Bordeaux named to the All-Big West First Team.
In 2006-07, Goethals' second seasonas head coach, the Tigers categorically improved in every aspect ofthe game. Led by perennial Academic All-American and First TeamAll-Big West selection Thomas Petersson the Tigers blazed their wayto a record tournament at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. TheTigers took fourth place at the Rice Intercollegiate in Februaryand stormed their way to a third place finish at the Big WestChampionships to end their season. Coach led Petersson to eighttop-20 finishes during the course of the year while junior ChrisRosenau cracked the top-20 three times.
Before arriving at Pacific Goethalshad just completed his fourth year as an assistant coach at GeorgiaTech under head coach Bruce Heppler. He helped lead the YellowJackets to a runner-up finish at the 2005 NCAA Golf Championshipsin Owings Mills, Maryland. Goethals was the assistant on YellowJacket teams that finished fifth (2004), 11th (2003), and second(2002 and 2005). He played a large part in recruiting the lastthree years, and successfully recruited four players over thecourse of two years that were ranked in the top 30 nationally.
Prior to his position at GeorgiaTech, Brandon worked in the high-tech and e-business areas from1997-2001. Before moving into the business world, Goethals was amember of the South African PGA Tour and played in a number ofprofessional events in the United States following his graduationfrom UNLV in 1992. While with the Rebels, he played under Heppler,who was an assistant coach with the team.
A solid player and outstandingstudent at UNLV, Goethals was an All-Big West Conference HonorableMention selection in 1990 as he helped the Rebels to the NCAA WestRegional Championships and a second-place conference finish. In hiscareer, he played in three NCAA Championships with UNLV, helpingthe team to a fourth-place finish in 1992 as a senior. His score of292 at the Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M., was amongthe best 72-hole performances in school history.
Goethals finished his career as afour-time letterwinner at UNLV and was the 1992 recipient of theteam's Bruce Parker Award, recognizing the team member with thehighest grade point average. Goethals graduated from UNLV with adegree in communications in 1992. A native of Northern California,Goethals grew up in Redding.
Goethals resides in Stockton withhis wife, Janelle, and their three children.
