Now entering his 18th season as head men’s golf coach at the University of South Alabama, Ben Hannan has helped lead the program to 11 tournament victories and more than 30 other top-three finishes during his tenure.
That includes guiding the Jaguars to four NCAA Regional appearances as a team — including the first two at-large berths in program history in 2013 and ’14 — while having seven student-athletes receive an individual invitation to a regional or advance to the NCAA Championship; twice the team would fall three strokes or fewer shy of an opportunity to advance to the national championship. He helped South claim the Sun Belt Conference title in 2005, earning league coach-of-the-year honors for the effort, while in 2010 Hannan and the Jags recovered from a four-stroke deficit entering the final round to win the Sun Belt championship.
Individually he aided Gareth Maybin in picking up honorable mention PING All-American accolades in his first season leading the program, while Michael Garretson was voted the SBC Player of the Year following the 2014 campaign. In addition to having 15 student-athletes named all-conference on 30 occasions, Hannan has helped 16 individuals receive national academic honors 24 times from the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Since the inception of match play at the SBC Championship, Hannan has helped the Jags advance to the semifinals on two occasions, and during that span a pair of individuals — Peter Staalbo in 2016 and Yannick Schütz in ’18 — received an invitation to an NCAA Regional while the two along with Rasmus Karlsson have picked up all-Sun Belt honors.
Staalbo and Schütz are two of seven Jaguars to compete individually in NCAA postseason play under Hannan, joining former All-American Gareth Maybin (2004), Jonny Caldwell (2008), Marc-Etienne Bussieres (2009), Jack Hiluta (2011) and Tyler Klava (2013).
Coming off a season in which the Jaguars earned their first-ever at-large invitation to an NCAA Regional and an individual garnered a berth in the NCAA Championships, Hannan’s efforts helped USA claim six top-three results in 2013-14 — including the program’s first team title since April 2011 — and a second straight NCAA Regional appearance while a trio of individuals earned all-league recognition.
Michael Garretson and Klava were selected first-team all-SBC — the former was the first Jaguar ever to be named the conference’s Golfer of the Year — and Lane Hulse picked up second-team honors after USA finished second at the league championship in April, one stroke out of a playoff.
In 2012-13, the Jags finished 47th in the final Golfstat ratings after coming within two strokes of advancing to the NCAA Championships. Hannan guided USA to seven top-five finishes in 12 tournaments — five of those were among the top three — as the program was selected to participate in an NCAA Regional for the seventh occasion, and third under his direction. After helping the team finish in a tie for sixth in the standings, Klava advanced to the national championships as an individual — the first Jaguar to accomplish the feat since the spring of 2003 — where he would record a 214 three-round total to finish in the top half of the field of 156.
Klava and Garretson earned all-Sun Belt honors in the spring of 2013, while Hulse became the sixth Jag ever to claim medalist honors at the league championships; half that total has come under the direction of Hannan.
Hannan had the Jaguars in contention for a berth in the NCAA Championships at the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional, as they would finish only three shots out of fifth place at the event in their first postseason appearance since 2005. In addition to winning the conference championship that spring, Hannan guided USA to the title at the Memphis Intercollegiate in the fall. The Jags also placed fourth out of 23 teams at the USF Invitational and finished sixth in a field of 24 at the UK Bluegrass Invitational in the spring as they ended in the top six in six events that year.
In 2008-09, Hannan led the Jaguars to not just a tournament victory — they won the Palmer’s Toyota Fall Intercollegiate by 21 strokes with a school-record 30-under-par score to open the year — but to a final ranking in the top 100 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. In addition to picking up his first career win, Bussieres earned an individual at-large invitation to compete at the NCAA Southeast Regional at the end of the spring. He and Hiluta both recorded five top-10 finishes, which included earning all-SBC accolades after ending up in the top five at the league championship in April.
The previous season, Caldwell broke an 11-year-old Sun Belt record held by former Jag Heath Slocum, earning medalist honors at the conference tournament by posting a 54-hole score of 205 to clear the field by two shots. USA finished third at the event, only three strokes off the pace. Caldwell — who earned all-SBC recognition for his accomplishment — would go on to tie for 47th place at the NCAA East Regional.
Hannan led USA to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, his second year on the job, earning Sun Belt Coach-of-the-Year honors. The Jaguars defeated Louisiana-Lafayette by one shot that season as Briscoe, Caldwell and Speirs all were voted to the all-SBC team. As a group, the Jags placed 15th at the NCAA West Regional in Palo Alto, Calif.
While the Jaguars earned a third-place finish at the conference championships Hannan’s first year as a head coach, Maybin won medalist honors by one stroke — he was joined by Josh Lampley and Speirs on the all-Sun Belt squad. Maybin would tie for 17th at the NCAA East Regional while going on to become USA’s most recent All-America honoree after being recognized by PING.
Off the course, USA has been named an All-Academic Team by the GCAA each of Hannan’s last 12 years in charge while the organization has selected 16 individuals (Maybin, 2004; Bussieres, 2009-10; Christian Blanchet, 2011; Chris Piumelli, 2011; McLain Leberte, 2012; Hulse, 2013-14; Blake Kelley, 2013-14; Garretson, 2014-15; Klava, 2014-15; Daniel Jansen, 2016; Jason Mendel, 2018; Karlsson, 2019-20; Schütz, 2019-21; Staalbo, 2019; Jordan Plunkett, 2021; Kyle Robinson, 2021) Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars 24 times during that span. And, 24 individuals have made the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List — which requires a 3.5 grade-point average for the year — on 45 occasions while 34 have been named to the league’s Academic Honor Roll (minimum 3.0 GPA) 62 times.
Additionally, 10 former Jaguars — Maybin, Caldwell, Ben Briscoe, Klava, Blanchet, Daniel Burns, Bussieres, Kelley, Colin Speirs and Jack Hiluta — have gone on to compete on professional tours following the conclusion of their collegiate careers.
Hannan is no stranger to titles, having helped USA win the SBC championship three times during his four-year playing career. His freshman season the Jaguars defeated UAB by seven strokes to win the championship, and they repeated a year later with a three-shot victory over Southwestern Louisiana. USA also finished second at the league championships his junior campaign as Hannan tied for 15th with a three-round total of 230 — he was among the top 20 in the conference in scoring average that year — before earning a nine-shot victory over UALR his final season.
After earning his degree in English in 1994, Hannan began his coaching career by serving as a volunteer assistant under former USA men’s coach Greg Jones. In 1996, he earned an opportunity to work as a teaching professional at the prestigious Phil Ritson-Mel Sole Golf School in Myrtle Beach, S.C., which is ranked in the top five of Golf Magazine’s Top 25 Golf Schools. He then served as golf instructor at the Dana Rader Golf School in Charlotte, N.C., from 1999-00, which is also listed on Golf Magazine’s prestigious list of the Top 25 schools in America.
Hannan also earned his first collegiate head coaching job at the time, as he would guide the program at Charlotte for three years from 2001-03. At UNCC, he coached a Conference USA individual champion and three all-conference selections. In consecutive recruiting periods in 2001 and’02, Hannan signed two top-25 national junior golfers.
The Mason City, Iowa, native — who added a master’s degree in education from USA in 2014 — is married to the former Jill Rodenbeck. They have three children: Samuel (21), Meg Elizabeth (19) and Maxwell (15).
The Hannan File
Born: Nov. 4, 1970, in Mason City, Iowa
Education:
Bachelor’s in English from South Alabama in 1994
Master’s in education from South Alabama in 2014
Playing Experience: Lettered four seasons at South Alabama (1991-94)
• Helped Jaguars win Sun Belt Conference championships in 1991, ’92 and ’94
• Tied for 15th at the SBC championships as a junior, finishing the season ranked in the top 20 in the league in stroke average
Coaching Experience:
Volunteer Assistant coach, South Alabama, 1994-95
Instructor, Phil Ritson-Mel Sole Golf School (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), 1996-98
Instructor, Dana Rader Golf School (Charlotte, N.C.), 1999-00
Head coach, Charlotte, 2001-03
Head coach, South Alabama, 2003-16; 2017-
Coaching Honors: Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, 2005
NCAA Appearances: Nine; 2004 (Gareth Maybin), 2005, 2008 (Jonny Caldwell), 2009 (Marc-Etienne Bussieres), 2010, 2011 (Jack Hiluta), 2013, 2014, 2016 (Peter Staalbo), 2018 (Yannick Schütz)
Sun Belt Conference Championships: Five; 2004 (Gareth Maybin), 2005, 2008 (Jonny Caldwell), 2010, 2013 (Lane Hulse)
All-Americans: One; Gareth Maybin (2004)
Academic All-Americans: 16 on 24 occasions; Gareth Maybin (2004), Marc-Etienne Bussieres (2009-10), Christian Blanchet (2011), Chris Piumelli (2011), McLain Leberte (2012), Lane Hulse (2013-14), Blake Kelley (2013-14), Michael Garretson (2014-15), Tyler Klava (2014-15), Daniel Jansen (2016), Jason Mendel (2018), Rasmus Karlsson (2019-20), Yannick Schütz (2019-21), Peter Staalbo (2019), Jordan Plunkett (2021), Kyle Robinson (2021)
All-Sun Belt Conference Performers: 15 on 30 occasions; Josh Lampley (2004), Gareth Maybin (2004), Colin Speirs (2004-05), Ben Briscoe (2005), Jonny Caldwell (2005-08), Daniel Burns (2006), Kyle Simmons (2006-07), Marc-Etienne Bussieres (2009-10), Jack Hiluta (2009-11), Tyler Klava (2012-15), Michael Garretson (2013-15), Lane Hulse (2014), Peter Staalbo (2016), Yannick Schütz (2018-19, ’21), Rasmus Karlsson (2019)
Walker Cup Participants: One; Jonny Caldwell (2007)
Palmer Cup Participants: Two; Gareth Maybin (2004) and Jonny Caldwell (2008)
Professional Players: 10; Gareth Maybin (European PGA Tour), Jonny Caldwell (European PGA Tour, European Challenge Tour), Ben Briscoe (Nationwide, Mackenzie PGA Tour, NGA Pro Golf Tour), Tyler Klava (Mackenzie PGA Tour, NGA Pro Golf Tour), Christian Blanchet (NGA Pro Golf Tour), Daniel Burns (NGA Pro Golf Tour), Marc-Etienne Bussieres (NGA Pro Golf Tour), Colin Speirs (NGA Pro Golf Tour), Jack Hiluta (PGA Europro Tour), Blake Kelley (SwingThought Tour, Emerald Coast Golf Tour)
