The enchantment of coaching captivated the four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Ryan Murphy, as early as his college golf career in New Mexico from 1994 to 1997.
“It keeps me in the game of golf,” Murphy said. “I’m kind of a golf junkie. It’s an avenue to keep me in the game, and it allows me to work with young people, which I really enjoy.”
Before taking his recruiting knowledge to the women’s side and becoming the Texas women’s golf head coach, Murphy was the assistant men’s golf coach. As an assistant for the men’s team, Murphy helped recruit and develop current professionals like Jordan Spieth and Beau Hossler.
“If you’re going to be successful, your recruiting has to be top-notch, and we’ve done a good job,” Murphy said. “This is my 10th year (as head coach), and I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job in that realm.”
Freshman Lauren Kim and sophomore Cindy Hsu are two examples of recent recruiting wins. This fall, Kim earned the individual medal at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup, and Hsu won the individual title at the 2023 World Amateur Team Championship.
The continuity of recruitment is a major factor to success, and there was not a line that divided his experience as a men’s and women’s coach besides the transition from assistant to head coach.
“When I became a head coach, that was a different role you take on than when you’re the assistant,” Murphy said. “I was really close and tight with the guys when I was the assistant, but when you become the head coach, it’s a little different dynamic. You have to be the person that lays down the rules, but you also have to have a good relationship with your players.”
Murphy has led his team to seven consecutive NCAA championship appearances, something that only three other programs have done. However, behind the scenes, running an organization with that amount of success has led to Murphy making difficult decisions.
“We have some depth on our team, perhaps more depth than I’ve ever had … and it’s good and bad,” Murphy said. “It’s good because they’re motivated to work hard because they want to be in the lineup. You’re always going to have a good team when you arrive at a tournament, but at the same time, that means you’re leaving some good players at home, which bothers me.”
Another challenge Murphy has is staying two or three years ahead in recruiting and hoping that a team comes together.
“I think my players trust me because they know that I have their best interest in mind,” Murphy said. “And I certainly trust my players because they’re really good.”
That trust has translated into being confident and encouraging of the individual process each player takes to learn.
“I’m trying to understand the person first and foremost before I even start to help them with their golf game because if you don’t step inside their world and know what’s going on with them, it will be hard to help them as a golfer,” Murphy said.
The uniqueness of every player is something that Murphy values and he believes recognizing that is what leads to success in golf. With experience in teaching young women, he aims to teach them to not fixate on reaching a place, but rather to reach their potential.
“Make it your goal to see how good you can become because if you do that, you will have the full attention of the University of Texas,” Murphy said. “It’s not necessarily about getting to a certain ranking, it’s just ‘How good can I become?’ … If that’s your focus, just (seeing) how good you can become, Texas is gonna be calling you.”
