Kirakossian Among Five Finalists for National Coach of Year Award
May 24, 2025 | Men's Golf
UCLA head coach Armen Kirakossian has been named as one of five finalists for the 2025 NCAA Division I Dave Williams Coach of the Year Award presented by Golf Pride Grips.
Kirakossian, now in his third year as UCLA's head coach, was honored this season as the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year, the first time in which he has been recognized as the league's coach of the year. He has guided UCLA to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2018, as the Bruins won the Big Ten Championships in late April at Baltimore Country Club.
Kirakossian joins a list of four other coaches who have helped lead their respective college programs to the NCAA Championships this week, hosted in Carlsbad, Calif., at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. The other four finalists for this year's award include Alan Bratton (Oklahoma State), Nick Clinard (Auburn), JC Deacon (Florida) and Bowen Sargent (Virginia).
The Bruins have won three team titles during the 2024-25 men's golf season. UCLA finished in first place out of 13 teams in the fall, competing at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in Carmel, Calif. That marked UCLA's first-ever team title under Kirakossian. During the spring season, UCLA won the team title at The Goodwin (hosted at Stanford in late March) as the best team out of 30 programs. UCLA won the Big Ten Championships title in late April, finishing in first place out of 18 teams.
UCLA seniors Pablo Ereño and Omar Morales were named unanimous choices on the 10-man list of first-team All-Big Ten Conference selections. Under Kirakossian's direction, Ereño was honored as the Big Ten Conference's Men's Golfer of the Year, while Baylor Larrabee was recognized as the league's Freshman of the Year.
The NCAA Championships will continue through Wednesday, May 28, in Carlsbad, Calif. The first three days of 18-hole stroke play run from Friday (May 23) through Sunday (May 25) with a fourth day of stroke play on Monday, May 26, for the top 15 advancing teams. Match play will take place on Tuesday (May 27) and Wednesday (May 28).
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