Jim Anderson

Jim Anderson is the head coach for University of Arizona Men's Golf and serves as camp director for the Nike Junior Golf Camps with University of Arizona in Sedona.

Since being named head men’s golf coach at the University of Arizona in June of 2012, Jim Anderson has propelled the program’s resurgence on the national scene with conference championships, All-Americans and unparalleled academic success.

Spring of 2021 marked seminal moments of championship success on the course and in the classroom. Anderson was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to their first Pac-12 Championship, as a team, in nearly 20 years. Brad Reeves became the program’s first Pac-12 Individual Champion since 2008 when he claimed the crown in dramatic fashion in the second playoff hole of the Pac-12 Championships in California. Reeves led the team’s dominance of the Pac-12 Conference Awards becoming Player of the Year as well as a First Team All-Pac-12 selection. Trevor Werbylo joined Reeves in the First Team while David Laskin and Chase Sienkiewicz were voted to the All-Conference Second Team with Sienkiewicz also earning a spot on the Pac-12 All-Newcomer Team.

In addition to the emphatic wins at the Pac-12 Championships and plethora of conference awards, the 2021 spring season saw the Wildcats win three tournaments as a team. Team victories in its home Arizona Intercollegiate event, The Prestige in Palm Springs and then the Pac-12 Championships gave Arizona its most tournament wins in a season since 2004. All three of those wins also saw Wildcats pickup individual wins as Brad Reeves won the Arizona Intercollegiate and the Pac-12 Championships while Trevor Werbylo claimed the victory at The Prestige. The trio of victories and conference titles padded Arizona’s postseason resume as it was selected for NCAA Regionals for a third consecutive season. Spring 2021 also saw championship success off the course as well as David Laskin became the program’s first Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year since Alex McMahon in 2015.

The Wildcats' 2018-19 season featured Arizona's second-straight Arizona Intercollegiate victory as Anderson's squad posted a -37 score at its home course of Sewailo. The Wildcats also had Top 5 finishes as a team at the Showdown in the Rockies, the Saint Mary's Invitational and the Querencia Cabo Collegiate. The impressive season led the Wildcats to the NCAA Louisville Regional, marking the third time Anderson led Arizona to postseason play. Under Anderson's watch, sophomore Trevor Werbylo had a scoring average of 70.73, which is the third-best single-season scoring average in program history. Werbylo was named honorable mention All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Junior David Laskin, who had a scoring average of 72.18, was named first-team Pac-12 All-Academic, while junior Briggs Duce was named second team and fellow junior Brad Reeves was named honorable mention.

Anderson’s sixth year in Tucson, the 2017-18 season, was a banner year for the program. Senior George Cunningham posted the second lowest season scoring average in program history en route to First Team All-Pac-12 honors. The senior won the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate and finished tied for first at the Western Invitational. Cunningham’s standout play was coupled with team-wide success for UA. The Wildcats won the Arizona Intercollegiate, which was the program’s first event championship in six seasons. Improved play by underclassmen also helped propel Arizona to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2013. UA shot a blistering 13-under par in the final round of regional play before just missing out on the NCAA Championships. Arizona’s success on the course was matched with honors and accolades in the classroom as sophomore David Laskin was a First Team Academic All-Pac-12 selection and Brad Reeves made honorable mention.

The 2016-17 season, Anderson’s Cats saw a second place finish at the Duck Invitational and five top-10 individual finishes and 15 top-20 finishes. Leading the Charge for the Cats was junior George Cunningham who closed out the year with a pair of top-10 finishes and five top-20 finishes, holding a 73.06 stroke average. Fellow junior Jordan Gumberg added a top-10 finish and a trio of top-20 finishes. Freshmen David Laskin and Brad Reeves closed out the year on a strong note, finishing in the top-20 in the 2017 Pac-12 Championships that saw a snow delay that canceled the final round of play. Reeves also saw a 4th place finish at the Duck Invitational.

In 2015-16, Anderson’s Wildcats finished the spring of 2016 on a strong note. Jordan Gumberg earned Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors after the sophomore finished in second at the Pac-12 Championships in Salt Lake City. Gumberg’s eight under par was tied for the eighth best performance in school history, tying assistant coach Chris Nallen. Fellow sophomore Jacob Kreuz also posted a strong showing for UA in the conference championship tournament tallying a top 15 finish. Gumberg earned a victory earlier in the season with a co-championship run in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic. Arizona’s success off the course was highlighted by the trio of Max Donohue, Kolton Lappa and Jacob Kreuz all earning Pac-12 All-Academic accolades with Donoue and Lappa being named to the first team.

The 2014-15 season saw Anderson guided a young squad that regularly saw multiple freshmen in the starting lineup. One of those freshmen, George Cunningham, distinguished himself by earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors and finishing the season as an NCAA Regional qualifier. Cunningham posted a 71.6 strokes per round average, which tied for second on UA's freshman single-season list and tied for 10th on the all-time single-season list. Senior Alex McMahon, the squad's number two player, earned Pac-12 Men's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and was a Capital One Academic All-District selection. In addition, the men's golf program notched the highest GPA out of the department's men's programs for the fourth straight year.

During 2013-14 season, Anderson led two individual Wildcats to the NCAA San Antonio Regional. Arizona also earned runner-up finishes at the Arizona Intercollegiate and Del Walker Invitational. The Wildcats earned numerous awards during the season including two All-Pac-12 honors and academic awards. Anderson also helped senior Erik Oja be selected for the Palmer Cup European team.

In his first season in Tucson, Anderson led the Arizona to an NCAA Regional appearance, the program’s 26th in the previous 27 years. The Wildcats were also successful in the classroom during the 2012-13 campaign, with four players earning inclusion on Pac-12 All-Academic teams.
Anderson came to UA with five seasons of Division I coaching experience, including three years as an assistant coach at Texas A&M (2009-12). While in College Station, he helped the Aggies to a head-to-head winning percentage of better than .800, seven team tournament titles and three appearances in the NCAA Championships.

A tireless recruiter who is intimately involved in the organization, preparation and implementation of team practices, training and competitions, Anderson was the winner of the 2012 Jan Strickland Award, presented annually to the assistant coach of the year by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

During the 2011-12 campaign, the Aggies were ranked as high as No. 11 nationally by Golfweek and captured the Big 12 championship. Texas A&M finished second at the NCAA Regional in Bowling Green, Ky., and took 14th at the NCAA Championships. Individually, three TAMU players claimed individual medals during the season, two were named All-Big 12 and one was tabbed an All-American.

In three seasons at Texas A&M, Anderson helped coach eight individual medalists, seven all-conference performers and seven All-Americans. Additionally, eight Aggie players received Academic All-Big 12 honors during his tenure.

TAMU finished second at NCAA Regionals in each of his three seasons, and recorded a high finish of ninth at the NCAA Championships.
Prior to his time at Texas A&M, Anderson spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico (2007-09). In those two seasons, UNM’s national ranking rose more than 70 spots, its winning percentage jumped more than 30 points and it posted a high finish of fourth at the Mountain West Championship. Anderson’s assistance also helped result in a 2009 NCAA Regional berth for the Lobos.

In June of 2013, Anderson had the opportunity to represent both his country and Arizona golf as an assistant coach on the U.S. Palmer Cup team by way of his 2012 Strickland Award recognition. He helped the U.S. to a 20.5-9.5 victory over Europe at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Del.
A native of Sioux Falls, S.D., Anderson was a four-year letterman at New Mexico from 1999-04, posting a 74.50 scoring average in 38 rounds He earned both Most Improved and Outstanding Student-Athlete accolades during his career, and was also a member of UNM’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Anderson graduated from New Mexico in 2003 with a B.S. in business administration/human resource management and earned a Master’s degree in sport administration from the school in 2004. He and his wife, Nita, have three children, Jolee, Ellie and Kenny.