Player Bio: O.D. Vincent - University of Washington Official Athletic Site
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Following a successful coaching career, former Washington golf coach O.D. Vincent returned to the University of Washington in December, 2008 as senior associate director of athletics.
Vincent will be a key senior member of the athletic department's management team. He will also oversee the day-to-day operations for football as well as men's and women's rowing, tennis and swimming. Additionally, Vincent will supervise the athletic communications and marketing units within the department.
Vincent left his position as men's golf coach at Duke, where he has served for the last season-and-a-half. Last season, he led the Blue Devils to two tournament victories and a second-place finish at the Atlantic Coast Conference championships.
Previously Vincent served as the head coach at UCLA from 2002-2007, where he led the Bruins to a pair of Pacific-10 Conference titles and four top-10 NCAA Tournaments finishes. While at UCLA he upgraded the school's on-campus practice facilities, implemented a successful fundraising plan and recruited some of the nation's top golfers. In 2005 and 2006 the Bruins' program was proclaimed the nation's "Best Balanced" by Golf Digest, which ranks more than 1,000 schools' academics, facilities, coaching, climate and golf. He coached eight All-Americas, 12 all-conference performers, three Pac-10 All-Academic team members and three Academic All-Americas at UCLA.
Recognized as one of the finest players in Husky golf history, Vincent's coaching accolades can match his efforts on the course. As the UW's head coach, he was named the College Golf Association's National Coach of the Year, an honor selected by his peers for the 1999 season. Prior to the national honor, he was awarded District VIII Coach of the Year and Pacific-10 Conference co-Coach of the Year honors.
In 1999, Vincent's fourth year as head men's coach, the Husky golfers enjoyed arguably the most successful season in school history, capturing three event titles and a school record fourth place finish at the NCAA Championships. The year included the debut of freshman standout Troy Kelly, who was the NCAA runner-up and brought to a close the career of senior Rob Rashell, who finished as the all-time Husky leader in top-10 tournament finishes under Vincent's guidance. Last season Vincent guided the Huskies back to the NCAA Championships.
Vincent's influence on the Husky program extends beyond his direct coaching responsibilities. He has been instrumental in the development of Washington National, the new Husky home course that opened in August of 2000. The 18-hole course, located in Auburn, Wash., is branded with a Husky theme thanks to a sponsorship agreement with the Washington athletic department. It has quickly become a favorite course for northwest golfers and a welcome home for the UW men's and women's teams.
Vincent became Washington's seventh golf coach in 1996. He distinguished himself as a Husky student-athlete when he took medalist honors in the 1988 Pacific-10 Championships and led the Washington to its first team title since 1963.
Vincent earned varsity letters in golf from 1987-89 and 1991, redshirting in 1990. He graduated from the University in 1991 with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology. In November of 1991 he was the only American to qualify for the Professional Golf Association's European Tour, competing on the professional tour from January through October of 1992 when he qualified for the 1992 British Open and found himself in fifth place after an opening round 67. When he returned to the United States, Vincent became a golf professional with O.B. Sports, a golf management company that his father, Orrin, founded.
No stranger to the Washington program for which he played, Vincent served as a volunteer assistant coach for the UW men's team during the 1994 season. In January of 1994, Vincent became the Project Development Manager and Golf Professional at Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, Ore.
A native of Palm Springs, Calif., and a graduate of Palm Springs High in 1986, Vincent's 1988 Pac-10 medal was just UW's second, and placed him in the company of greats such as Dave Stockton, Peter Jacobsen, Scott Simpson and Corey Pavin as winners of golf's toughest conference championship. After leading the Huskies to the Pac-10 team title in 1988, he helped the UW earn a 15th-place finish at the NCAAs where Vincent was the leader after the first two rounds before slipping into a tie for 19th place, good enough for All-American honors.
During his senior campaign in 1991, Vincent finished in the top 10 in seven of 13 tournaments for the Huskies, sharing co-medalist honors with teammate Mike Swingle at the Oregon Invitational and finishing second at four other events, including the Pac-10 Championship, in which the Huskies placed fifth. He had the UW's low stroke average for 1991, a 73.7. He served as a Husky co-captain in 1991 and in 1989, earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 1988 as a sophomore and second-team honors in 1991 as a senior.
While in high school, Vincent helped Palm Springs High School win the California State High School Championship in 1985 and was the medalist at that championship event as well. That same year he was named an American Junior Golf Association third-team All-American.
