Ohio State golf coach to retire after 36 seasons

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Jim Brown, the longest tenured coach in Ohio State history, will step down a year from now after his 36th season as men's golf coach.

Brown is the winningest active NCAA golf coach, with a career record of 5,609-1,791-43. He has 157 tournament victories and coached the 1979 NCAA championship team that featured longtime touring pros John Cook and Joey Sindelar.

"I've been thinking about it the last few years," Brown said Monday. "I'll be 65 years old, and this will be my 42nd year as a coach, and now is the time."

Brown, a 1966 Ohio State graduate who played basketball and golf for the Buckeyes, led Ohio State to 17 Big Ten titles as a coach. The Buckeyes won the conference championship every season from 1976-90 except 1981 and 1988, when they finished second.

Among the players he coached at Ohio State are Clark Burroughs (NCAA medalist in 1985), Chris Perry, Chris Smith, Kevin Hall, Gary Nicklaus, Ted Tryba, Ralph Guarasci, Mark Balen, Rod Spittle and Craigen Pappas.

Brown also was the head coach at Rollins and Kent State before returning to his alma mater in 1974.

"I wanted to leave while the program was on the upswing. We had a good season and will be even better next year after gaining experience."