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Coaches Announced for Golfweek Coaches Forum at 2017 WGCA and GCAA National Convention

NORMAN, Okla.—The WGCA and GCAA announced today the four distinguished current coaches who will headline the Golfweek coaches’ forum Wednesday morning at the 2017 national coaches’ convention in Las Vegas. The two men’s coaches, Conrad Ray of Stanford and Ryan Hybl of Oklahoma, have decorated backgrounds as both student-athletes and coaches in the game. Women’s coaches Missy Farre-Kaye of Arizona State and Carrie Forsyth of UCLA, will also address the forum.

The four coaches join previously announced guest speakers Tony Dovolani, Dr. Bob Rotella, Dottie Pepper, Scott Fawcett, Damon Goddard and Lynn Mariott and Pia Nilsson with Vision 54.

Coaches who have yet to register for convention please visit http://collegiategolf.com/membership/national-convention.html.


Conrad Ray, Stanford

Ray, a former Cardinal standout student-athlete, is Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf. The 2017-18 season marks his 13th on The Farm. During his tenure as head coach, Ray has led the Cardinal to 11 appearances in the NCAA Championships, including the school’s eighth national title in 2007. Stanford has won three Pac-12 Championships and four NCAA regional crowns under his direction. Ray was the 2007 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year presented by Golf Pride and two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Stanford student-athletes have been well decorated under Ray’s watch, as he has helped produce two Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Barbasol recipients, two Ben Hogan Award presented by Konica Minolta winners and a Byron Nelson Award presented by Srixon/Cleveland Golf honoree. Cardinal golfers have earned 27 PING All-America, 21 Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar, four Pac-12 Players of the Year, three Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year, three Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and 18 All-Pac-12 first team selections. Additionally, Ray coached the 2008 United States Arnold Palmer Cup team and five Stanford golfers have represented their country in the event during his tenure. Ray will also be inducted into the GCAA Hall of Fame at the 2017 convention during the GCAA Hall of Fame Reception and Awards Banquet Monday, Dec. 11.

Ryan Hybl, Oklahoma

Hybl will become the first United States Arnold Palmer Cup participant to serve as head coach in the matches this upcoming summer at Evian Resort Golf Club. He led Oklahoma to the 2017 NCAA title, the second in program history. Named Sooner head coach on June 22, 2009, Hybl took over a program that finished 10th in the 2009 Big 12 Championship and inside the top nine just once that spring, and has guided it to the top three single-season scoring averages in school history and to the NCAA Championships each of the last seven years. OU is one of just five teams to reach the national tournament in each of the past seven years, joining Illinois, Texas and Southern California. Hybl has coached seven Sooners to PING All-America recognition. After the Sooners claimed the 2017 national title, four OU golfers earned honorable mention honors. Competing in the last Arnold Palmer Cup to match the United States against Great Britain & Ireland, Hybl helped lead Team USA to 15.5-8.5 victory in 2002. He posted a record of 1-1-2.

Missy Farr-Kaye, Arizona State

Missy Farr-Kaye completed a trifecta in 2017, winning her third NCAA national championship as a Sun Devil - first as a player (1990), then as an assistant coach (2009), and now as a head coach (2017). Behind First Team All-Americans Linnea Strom and Monica Vaughn (also the individual medalist, sixth in Sun Devil history) and Honorable Mention All-American Olivia Mehaffey, Farr-Kaye led ASU to a nation-leading eighth NCAA championship in 2017. For the team's performance in 2016-17, Farr-Kaye was named Golf Pride Grips WGCA National Coach of the Year, Golfweek National Coach of the Year, West Region Coach of the Year, and Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Farr-Kaye was named the 10th head coach of the seven-time NCAA Champion Arizona State women’s golf team on June 26th, 2015. Farr-Kaye, arguably one of the most respected coaches in the country, spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach and then associate head coach of the Sun Devil women’s golf program with Melissa Luellen before being promoted to head coach. Under the partnership of Farr-Kaye and Luellen, ASU won the school’s seventh NCAA Title in 2009, golfer Azahara Munoz took home an individual NCAA title in 2008, and the duo coached 14 student-athletes to a total of 24 All-American teams, and saw three players win Pac-12 Golfer of the Year.

Carrie Forsyth, UCLA

Having led the Bruins to a pair of NCAA Championships, while coaching players to nearly 90 All-American awards and five conference Golfers of the Year, Carrie Forsyth begins her 19th season leading the UCLA women's golf program in 2017-2018. Under Forsyth, the Bruins have won NCAA Championships in 2004 and 2011, and have finished runner-up three more times in 2005, 2008 and 2009. UCLA has finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA Championships 13 times in the last 18 years, including 2016 when it won the stroke-play competition and was a semifinalist in match play. In addition to the pair of national championships, Forsyth has also led the Bruins to eight NCAA Regional crowns, including back-to-back wins three times. The Bruins have claimed four Pac-10/12 Conference titles, winning the league championship in 2017. UCLA was the only team to finish in red figures and won by 21 strokes. UCLA has placed in the top three of the conference on 14 occasions. Four Bruins have won the conference individual championship under Forsyth’s tenure. Forsyth is a five-time Pac-10/12 Conference Coach of the Year, earning the award in back-to-back seasons twice. In 2004, she was named the WGCA Coach of the Year, while in 2011, Forsyth earned Golfweek National Coach of the Year honors. The Bruins have received a total of 89 All-American awards during the last 18 seasons, 47 WGCA/NGCA honors and 42 Golfweek accolades.