EVANSVILLE, Ind. –Â University of Southern Indiana Athletics has officially announced the hiring of Ryan Chandler as the next men’s golf head coach. Chandler will be the 11th head coach in program history.
“I am excited to start this next chapter at USI,” said Chandler. “I’m thankful to Jon Mark Hall for entrusting me to lead the next era of the Men’s golf program. We have a great group of young men ready to compete at the top of the OVC.”
“We are extremely excited to have Ryan on board. Ryan has been a successful head coach, so he knows what it takes to move a program forward,” said USI Athletic Director Jon Mark Hall. “We have confidence that he will be able to build on what was a very successful first season for our men’s golf program at the Division I level.”
Chandler joins USI after a five-year stint with Union University as head coach of both the men’s and women’s golf team. During his time with the Bulldogs golf program, he coached Union’s first ever All-GSC players, one for each team in his first year. He helped the men’s team rise to a school record of No. 37 in the NCAA Division II national ranking during the 2022-23 season. Chandler also coached a third team All-American, who finished 16th in the NCAA DII Regional tournament.
A 2011 Union graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Chandler helped the Bulldogs to a pair of TranSouth Conference titles (2010, 2011), and NAIA National Tournament appearances as a player (2010, 2011). Individually, Chandler was the first-place medalist at the 2010 Jackson National Shootout.
Chandler, a native of Kenton, Tennessee, spent time as a professional golfer, where he’s posted numerous top-10 finishes on the West Florida Golf Tour and the Florida Professional Golf Tour. He spent time as a head golf professional at Spring Lake Golf Resort in Sebring, Florida. He also spent time working as a college scout for the National Scouting Report for four years.
Chandler and the Eagles will open the season in Muncie, Indiana, at the Ball State Invitational (September 9-10). The Eagles finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship last year.
