During Jim Brown’s 30-year tenure as Ohio State men’s golf coach, his program has won 16 Big Ten championships, appeared in 27 NCAA tournaments and has had all but three golfers earn their degrees.
“When a kid comes here, they come to get an education and a degree. I got that from Coach Hayes, Coach Taylor and Coach Kepler, my golf coach when I was here,” Brown said.
The OSU men’s golf team has a 99.9 percent graduation rate under Brown. He said he recruits golfers who already have a good academic record coming out of high school to keep that rate high.
“The first thing I look at is academics. I look at test scores and how a student is doing in his core classes. We want them to succeed academically,” Brown said. “If you are not going to do your academic work, you aren’t going to play.”
Brown makes sure his team is aware of the importance of doing well in school. He said he checks with his student athletes on a weekly – and sometimes daily – basis about their progress in the classroom.
Brown said he knows what classes his golfers are taking and what they are scheduled to take in the following quarters.
“We know that Coach Brown doesn’t accept anything less than 100 percent – not only on the course, but off of it as well,” said junior Kevin Hall.
Keeping grades in good standing can be especially difficult for a golfer because of the amount of time it takes to practice. It takes more than four hours to play one round of golf, and that can add up during a week.
Since it takes practice to get better at golf, the members of Brown’s team must often sacrifice their studies to get more time on the golf course.
“I probably spend about 20 hours a week at the course,” said junior Scott Anderson.
Last year Anderson and Hall were recipients of Academic All-Big Ten awards.
“I hate to do horrible in school. I put a lot of weight on my academics, if it means staying up all night studying or going to see 10 different people about their opinions on my paper,” Hall said.
Brown said he appreciates Hall’s dedication to academics. “He is a true student athlete. He studies on trips and is very organized,” he said. “If I had a whole team of Kevins, I wouldn’t have many worries.”
“Balancing is something I have yet to master,” Hall said. “I think putting those two up as my No. 1 and No. 2 priorities really helps me. I know what I have to do every day, and I will not let anything else interfere with my plans.
“It’s not fun to practice golf four or five hours a day and then have to come home with a pile of homework waiting for you.”
Brown said he pushes his athletes to take advantage of the support services OSU offers its student athletes.
“We are always in touch with our counselors, and we have so many tutors available to us,” Anderson said.
Brown makes all his freshmen golfers attend study tables during their first year. If they prove they can do well, then they are not required to attend.
“I want golfers to be around. I don’t want someone if I am not sure if they will be here in two or three years,” Brown said.
